Athanasia

Chapters

A Walk In The Woods
Pale Rider
Trapped In Amber
Bits and Pieces
Promise the Girl
Flawed Legacy
Last of the Brave (Reworked)

A Walk In The Woods

Dinky Hooves was miserable.

Following an argument with her mother, Ponyville's resident mailmare, she had run off, and with tears staining her vision, she had ended up storming into the local cursed forest. While the thick woods were a lot less scary after efforts had been made to reclaim the land with the Elements of Harmony, it was still no less petrifying for a young filly to be lost in as the sun started to slowly drift under the horizon.

Dinky couldn't even recall what her fight was about now that she was lost deep in the thicket, something that had seemed so important, critical to proving she wasn't just a child anymore to her mother. But now that she was alone, with only the noises of wildlife, and the creaking of these woods, all she wanted was to be held by her mum again.

She was sprawled out in a clearing, wiping her eyes to rid them of the tears that kept invading her sight. Her ears twisted to focus on any noises nearby that might be a scary monster about to pounce on her. Dinky could hardly believe how stupid she was.

The sky above had turned a dark lavender, and she could see that it was fighting a winning battle against the glowing orange that heralded the sun's descent. The pinpricks of stars began to make their appearance in the inky darkness high above her. It would be beautiful if it wasn't followed by the thought of being in the Everfree Forest after dark.

Dinky could be home right now, chowing down on some freshly baked muffins, telling her mum about her day at school, or prattling on about the newest adventures her friends had gone on to help another pony get their cutie mark. Her mum would have diligently listened, and hung on to every word, before kissing her forehead and drawing her a bath.

But instead, she was cold, alone, and hurt, in a patch of grass surrounded by tall lanky trees. Their branches were warped into reaching arms, barren of leaves, instead coated in an unhealthy amount of ivy and moss. If the filly looked too closely, it would almost seem as if the trees themselves were sneering down at her, with rotted faces deep within their trunks.

And so, she continued to sob, deciding that she couldn't fight the onslaught of tears that ran down her muzzle. Weeping into her hooves at the thought that she would never be able to taste her mum's baking again, or to be held in her warm hugs.

Occupied with her suffering, she didn't notice the white glow until it was directly in front of her.

'This is it...' she thought, 'a monster has come to make me its dinner,'

Instead, with her eyes shut tight, she felt a warm presence against the top of her head, as if somepony had laid their muzzle atop hers. Bewildered, she cracked an eye open, and what she saw felt like it sprang straight from a children's book.

An ethereal deer, radiating a warm white glow, stood in front of her, its hooves ended before they touched the grass below, and were instead little clouds of a thick fog. Beautiful and vibrant flowers sprung from the ground where she expected the hooves would be.

It looked faintly like how ghosts had been drawn in the stories her mum read to her on the evenings close to Nightmare Night. See-through and wispy, with glowing yellow eyes gazing down at her. Instead of being petrified, she felt oddly at peace. A calming aura emitted from this ghost, and Dinky knew she was in no danger while this thing stood above her.

They kept like that for a while, Dinky's tears finally halting their unrelenting push forward, as she was warmed by the soft presence of this new companion. One of its cloudy forelegs brushed against her muzzle, helping clean off the darkened patches of fur under her eyes.

"I'm... I'm lost. Can you bring me back to my mummy?" Dinky's voice was raspy, a side effect of her sobbing ruining her vocal cords.

The deer didn't speak, but its glowing eyes looked as if it understood. Raising itself to its full height, it began to walk toward the trees, before stopping and turning back to Dinky. It beckoned her with a hoof.

She didn't need to be told twice, and Dinky picked herself up and began to follow, noticing the new flowers that had appeared in the ghost's trodden path. As she stepped forward, she noticed her back leg was hurting, and when she looked back, she saw it was bleeding from a cut she must have acquired as a gift when she ran through the woods earlier. She almost started crying again, until the deer noticed her pause, and trotted back next to her.

The deer's muzzle brushed against the cut, wiping away some of the blood that oozed from it, and while the cut itself didn't disappear, it did stop bleeding. After gazing upon their handiwork, the ghost brought itself down to its haunches, and then laid down, its head moving to look upon Dinky's.

A bit confused, she soon realised that her friend wanted her to climb aboard her back, and so, with a little struggle, she was able to mount her new noble steed, her front hooves wrapped around the ghost's neck. Once she was properly secured and didn't think she would fall, her friend rose and began to trot off into the woods again, though in a different direction to last time.

The birds chirped above her, singing lullabies and tweeting sweet goodnights to one another as the moon began to shine in the sky. Crickets started their song and dance in the undergrowth, while fireflies began shining their beautiful lights around the pair as they began their trek into the woods.

Dinky soon realised how tired she was, exhausted from the emotional evening and the running from earlier, and started to drift off atop the deer's back. As her eyes grew heavy and began to close, she could have sworn she heard humming coming from the deer.

Dinky Hooves was at peace.

She awoke to find herself in a beautiful green grove, not knowing where she was, other than that it was safe. She didn't know how she knew this, but it just felt right. Though, she did soon realise she was alone, her new friend no longer with her. She stood up a bit, but her back leg still agitated her, and before she could call out to find the spirit, she heard a rustling behind some bushes nearby.

The inquisitive filly tried gazing through the gaps in the green leaves, not seeing that familiar white glow, but instead a large creature standing on two limbs. Its back was turned to her, but she could hear it softly humming and whistling to itself as it messed with some glass objects on a rock in front of it, rattling and twinkling as they were brought close to one another.

She knew that she should have felt something else, something more attuned to fear, or surprise, but she just felt... calm. A soft breeze blew through the grove, flowers brustling in the slight push that flowed between them, the sound of a fire crackling in a small pit nearby, as burning logs spat and sparked into the night sky above.

Dinky had no idea what time it was, and thinking about it, her breathing began to speed up as she realised how worried her mother was. Hearing the audible panicked breaths, the creature turned around towards the filly and started to slowly approach as it lowered itself to a less threatening height.

Once in front of her, Dinky was able to gaze upon this bizarre oddity, taking note of its odd skin and clothing. It appeared to be wearing a type of dress, similar to the ones she had been forced to wear with her mum during Ponyville's various celebrations, or seen through the windows of the Carousel Boutique. It flowed in a constant unseen wind, similar to the Princesses' manes, but was decorated with various branches, leaves, and flowers.

Running down its upper limbs were spiraling branches of ivy, wrapping around the arms until they reached the ends, where this creature's soft claws were. The skin underneath was a light chocolate colour, with darker patterns in black paint flowing through them. Some were simple lines, others were intricate drawings of flowers or various creatures.

Its face appeared to be hidden behind a wooden mask, two white spirals where its eyes must've been. Other than those, the rest of the mask was an almost triangular shape, with curved edges along the bottom, and two long branches acting as horns atop them.

Behind this wooden mask, she could see a very long mane, the colour of the night sky, sprinkled with small flowers growing out of it, as well as white streaks in the occasional strand.

It looked beautiful.

It crouched down in front of Dinky, raising one of its upper limbs and resting its palm on her cheek. It tilted its head, and she could have sworn the eyes on the mask looked as if they were meant to accompany a smile. It reminded her of how her mother would hold her head when she had scratched her face in a spout of reckless galloping through the park.

Though, with all the sense of motherhood and ease it emitted, Dinky's fear of how her own mother must be feeling prevailed.

"My mum, she... she's going to be so worried!" the filly managed to say, almost having to force the words out. Instead of the being talking back, Dinky instead felt its response.

Be not afraid

The filly's face contorted at the odd sensation, but she managed to wrangle in her breathing and returned to a normal pattern. Seeing the small unicorn calm itself down, the creature nodded and returned to their stone desk, mixing two glass bottles, before returning with a wooden bowl that was filled with a thick red paste.

It softly applied this substance to Dinky's cut leg, making sure to not agitate the wound. It was cold to the touch, but within moments the cut was gone. After carefully testing her leg by stretching it, she could tell it was as if it had never been hurt at all.

"Thank you," Dinky looked into the mask's spiraling eyes, gazing upon her healer's 'face'. She still had some questions though, and the one that ultimately felt most important came first, "Do you know where my ghost friend went? I want to thank them too..."

The creature stiffened for a moment and cocked its head. Dinky feared she said something to upset them before she heard something she did not expect.

Giggling. The creature in front of her, this woodland animal, was giggling. It sounded like a young mare softly laughing at a joke that she shouldn't find funny. It stayed like that for a couple of moments, living in its moment of joy, before it took notice of Dinky's perplexed face.

Restraining herself, the creature raised an arm to his mask and began to lift. Underneath was an odd face, a protruding small nose, and two large eyes that were lush green in colour, reflecting that of the grove around the pair. Its lips were fleshy and upturned into a grin, showing some of the white teeth hidden behind.

The same black paint was on all sides of her face, decorated as vines that climbed along her neck and chin, stopping just below the mouth, while a couple of individual branches reached up to her forehead.

And then, unlike before, she spoke. "I am your ghost, young one," her voice was delicate and soothing, "and you're so very welcome."

Dinky stared into the pools of her eyes, the miniature garden worlds that swirled inside, and then she smiled too. She reached forward and hugged her new friend.

"Can you help me get home? I'm worried about my mum." Their embrace ended, but the taller figure still rested one of its hands atop the pony's shoulder.

"Ah, fear not my little pony, she's aware of where you are, and we'll be meeting her soon," As if coordinated, a small plump bluejay landed on the spirit's arm and tweeted something to her. She nodded in understanding, gave the bird a little scratch with a finger under its beak, and then it flew off. "It seems we'll start walking now, she's almost to where I told her to go."

"Can... Can you carry me again? It felt nice." Dinky blushed slightly at her request, suddenly surprised by her audacity. Again, the spirit giggled and then lifted the pony, letting her sit upon her shoulders, the mask being moved to dangle from her waist.

"Of course, let's get you back. She sounded like a lovely mother." The spirit said as it started walking towards a wall of vines, which spread apart at her approach with a small wave of one of her arms.

"I don't want to be rude, but who, and what are you?" Dinky asked, again kicking herself over how she said something before thinking. Instead of an annoyed response, the creature was silent for a bit.

"I'm... a very old being, from even before the Princesses were born," A small gasp came from atop the spirit's head, "And my name is Everfree. This is my forest."

A bombshell of information with just a few words, Dinky was floored. Her friend was older than the Princesses? And the Everfree Forest was hers?!

"Why are there so many monsters in your forest? You don't sound like somepony who would let them live here."

A somber silence filled the air as they continued to walk, and Dinky felt the spirit's mood alter a bit. She could tell she was remembering a memory, and trying to find the words to talk. She had seen the same emotions run through her mums face many times before.

"When I was younger and new to these lands, I was still trying to control my powers. In my stupidity I brought to life creatures I had once read about when I was your age. They were... my first friends in these lands. As time went on, they stopped listening to me, had children of their own, and now they run wild and free. I wish they did not harm the ponies but I won't take away the gifts I gave them so long ago."

"So you're like, this forest's mummy?" The filly asked, raising a hoof to her chin while the other was holding onto the spirit's long mane.

Another giggle seemed to echo and bounce off the trees around them, which appeared to lighten up in their creator's presence. "In a way, yes."

They continued to chat away as they continued their trek through the woods. Lively green grass sprouted from beneath them, breathing newfound life into a long-forgotten path. Flowers of all different assortments of colours blossomed all around as the pair giggled together. Sharing stories of the past, about Derpy Hooves' various muffin recipes, and the first creation of the Timberwolf.

Finally, Everfree slowed and brought Dinky down to the floor. "My current appearance can be frightening when I'm not in my little home, so I'll be returning to that... ghost, from earlier," She giggled again at the memory, "I can't talk like this when I'm in that form, so this is the last I can talk to you like this."

As Dinky opened her mouth to object, Everfree raised a finger, "But, this is not a farewell. If you ever find yourself in these woods again and need help getting home, or just want a friend to speak to, just say these words into the wind, and I'll be right there."

Dinky silenced herself, and gave the woman her full attention, preparing to engrave the words into her memory. The spirit simply smiled at her expression, and said, "'Oly Oly Oxen Free', and when I am coming to you, you'll hear me say, 'We're all free in the Everfree.'"

The filly nodded several times, saying the phrase back to herself. Before looking upon the woman as she slowly morphed into a translucent white deer. She leaned down to nuzzle Dinky, and nodded her head forwards, towards the edge of the forest. They began to walk forward slowly before the small unicorn spotted a grey pegasus with a blonde mane in the grass beyond the trees. A worried expression plastered on her face.

Dinky broke out into a full gallop and jumped into her mother's hooves, hugging her tighter than she had ever held her before.

"Oh Dinks, I was so worried! Are you ok? I'm so sorry about earlier! I baked you your favourite muffins!" Derpy Hooves flustered the words out, hugging her daughter right back.

"I'm ok mum, I'm sorry I ran off, I was stupid and-" Derpy interrupted her, and kissed her on her forehead.

"Don't be silly, it's all okay now. Just, never run off into those woods again, ok?"

Dinky simply nodded into her mother's chest, appreciating the warm embrace they both shared. After a handful of moments, which they both wished would last forever, they broke their hug, and they looked towards the treeline. Standing there was a magnificent ethereal deer. Wispy and cloudy as life sprung around it, and from what Dinky could tell, more fierce than before. Life sprouted in a much wider area, as trees began to grow full bushes atop their branches.

"She helped me when I was lost," Dinky said, looking in the deer's direction.

"I know, she sent the cutest little bluebird with a message, telling me you're okay." Derpy shared the moment drinking in the beauty of the creature in front of them both. "Can I hug you?"

The deer looked bashful, hiding its face for a moment, before slowly walking towards the pair, and welcoming the tight embrace from the larger of the two. "Thank you for helping us, how can I repay you?" The deer started to shake its head before the pegasus interrupted her, "Please, it's the least we can do. How about we bake you something?"

The spirit stopped and pondered for a moment before slowly nodding its head, and then nuzzled both ponies. They shared this moment as a trio, before the deer broke contact, looked at them both, and turned around, returning to care for the forest, her own child.

Dinky and Derpy hadn't fought since that day. Their hugs were tighter, and their love was stronger. Each weekend, they would both bake a plethora of baked treats and head to a little grass patch in Everfree's Forest. They would set up a little picnic blanket, some cups, and various types of beverages, ranging from teas to sodas (at Dinky's request), as well as some story books from Ponyville's library. Once they were all prepared, Derpy would nod to Dinky, who would say into the wind, "Oly Oly Oxen Free."

And each time the wind would whisper back, "We're all free in the Everfree."

Author's Note

My first submitted story since 2014, just kind of threw it out there as a one-shot but if people wanted to see some more of Everfree and Dinky's friendship, I would be happy to write some more!

Pale Rider

"I am the mother of nature, I am Everfree."

Luna looked at the mare, she had known she was going to act up a bit, but she didn't know how extravagant she would express herself. Not that she was entirely wrong, but she wouldn't have expected those words to ever leave her mouth. The green alicorn turned to her and smiled, her eyes filled with mirth.

"These two are my progeny," Everfree spread her wings wide, draping them over the two sisters at her side. "They are... were... my students."

Twilight's mind broke, this was big, no, it was huge- nay, it was colossal. Celestia herself was a student? I mean, she knew that she was young at some point, but to actually meet their teacher? She had so many questions, but her mouth could only flap, she didn't know where to even begin.

It was at this moment, that Rainbow Dash finally decided to show up. Bewildered by the scene in front of her, she huddled up close to Applejack. "Hey, AJ, who's the giant?"

Applejack looked at the pegasus, still not quite believing what she heard.

"Ah... Ah think she's the Queen?"

After the various dumbstruck stares and gaping mouths, that final comment twisted the knife. Everfree finally couldn't take it anymore. She burst out laughing, and soon the two Princesses next to her joined in. She tried to calm herself down, but thinking of Applejack's comment just made her sink even further into the depths of joy. As soon as she would start to calm down, she would hear her two adopted daughters laughing alongside her, and it would drag her back down. Celestia's laugh was a very regal, almost contained giggle, which would occasionally be interrupted by a garish snort.

Luna's, on the other hand, was an uproarious cackle, running wild and free - knowing nothing about containment. Everfree wheezed, air abandoning her lungs as she continued to try and get back to her hooves, after having toppled over when the white Princess first snorted like a pig.

The six ponies in front of them, and the one infant dragon which had joined the group after hearing the ruckus, were bewildered. Pinkie Pie couldn't help herself and started to double over with laughter too, not quite knowing what the joke here was.

Celestia wiped her eyes with her foreleg, "Sorry girls, we just couldn't help ourselves." she managed to say over all the noise beside her. "It's been some time since we were able to all play a prank like that." Unbeknownst to the common citizen of Equestria, their deity of the sun had a wild streak to her. An almost untapped potential for jokes at others' expense - even she and the old chaotic draconequus had been a troublesome pair in their youths before he started to take things too far.

The huge green Alicorn was finally able to get herself back in control and stood to her full height, looming over the group in front of her. If it weren't for the tears staining her cheeks, along with a big goofy smile plastered on her face, the sight would have struck a little fear into them. "I'm sorry Twilight, most of what I just said was made out of thin air."

Said purple pony looked up and down, between the green eyes of the newcomer, and her scribbled notes. With a little grumble, she crumpled the paper and threw it behind her. She decided to scan the Alicorn, looking them over to see who they really were. There was a deep sensation of magic to them, not unlike Discord's, but this one was... safer. It was as if the magic itself had a maturity to it that the chaotic god's didn't.

The cutie mark on their flanks was the exact same as the zebras, although instead of having a darker tattoo-like appearance, it was coloured - green leaves atop the curved branches, connected to brown roots which sprouted up from the bottom. in a circle around the tree was a pattern of various different flowers and plants. Everfree, noticing how her rear side was being thoroughly stared at, cracked a smug smile.

"Buy a girl some dinner first, Twilight." the reaction was immediate, a deep crimson blush exploding onto Twilight's cheeks as she looked away, avoiding eye contact as she realised that she invaded someone's personal bubble for the second time. She meekly apologised, and Rainbow Dash couldn't help but chuckle at her friend's expense.

"This form, this Alicorn, this isn't really me. Like the zebra from before, this is just something I can choose to look like." Twilight's ears perked up, realising that she was now getting real information. Everfree smiled, wanting to give her something after her bullying. "In fact, being in this form isn't usually something I can do, but my two girls here are pumping me with enough painkilling magic to knock out a small horse- uh, pony."

"I'm sorry darling, but I don't quite understand. I know a changeling can change their appearance, but yours seems... different." Rarity spoke, shuddering at some of the memories of her previous encounters with the insectoid ponies.

"While a changeling has similar powers to me, they get a lot more choice in their appearance, they could become any different pony - my shifting is limited to that of a species. Ponies, such as Earth ponies, Unicorns, Pegasi, and Alicorns, are all the same species - even if some snobby prats don't think so" Everfree stated, mumbling the last sentence under her breath. "Essentially, if I want to look like a pony, I look like this," she gestured to her body.

"Usually, my appearance is not so corporeal. It takes a large strain to look like I do now, and if I do it without much preparation, I get the worst headaches you can imagine." She finished, Rarity made a noise of acknowledgement, as Twilight hastily wrote down notes.

"Ok, that's all good, but like, who actually are you?" Rainbow Dash asked, not quite listening to the mumbo-jumbo of magic explanation.

"Well, she spoke some truth," Luna replied, "Her name is Everfree, and she was with us as foals." She didn't want to explain how they were basically adopted by the woman, not knowing if the woman herself wanted to let such information go.

The human-turned-Alicorn, realising how this conversation may drag on a bit, gestured towards some of the various seats in the castle's library, and plopped herself down on an oddly out-of-place beanbag. She sank into it a bit, not quite able to get as comfortable in her pony form, and chose to speed things up a bit so she could finally get out of this facade.

The others all find places to seat themselves, forming a warped circle, feeling very similar to sitting around a campfire. And, like that, some stories would be told.

"Yes, my name is Everfree." the green Alicorn stated, trying to sit herself up - which caused a little murmur of giggles from some of the group. "And I do have powers deeply connected to that of nature - plants, animals, the ground beneath our hooves - It's like it's a part of me, or that I am a part of it, depending on how you view it." she gestured to the plant she had grown earlier, as the six different coloured flowers grew bigger.

"So, the Everfree Forest, you're its guardian?" Twilight asked, who was snuggled between Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie on a sofa not suited for this many applicants.

"I am as much its guardian as I am its gardener. I'm afraid that the majority of you have only been able to witness areas which have been struck by a curse - but it's one I've been trying to combat for a millennia," she shook her head, thinking about all the various hexed plants and wildlife, but continued, "you may be interested to know that the forest was originally named after me - Everfree's Forest, which I believe originated from these two here," looking towards Luna and Celestia, who were both sitting on the floor on either side of the woman's beanbag.

Twilight continued to write down notes, constantly flipping pages as she reread different bits of information. Fluttershy coughed into her hoof a bit and managed to ask, "My animals have never spoken about you, I only heard about you today, Miss... E-Everfree." her voice trailing off as she lost confidence.

"Yes, we share a lot of friends, Miss Fluttershy. The animals do not speak of me simply because I asked them not to. For a long time, I wished to stay out of sight - out of mind of ponies. Only recently have I realised how silly my lifestyle has been as of late. Speaking of," She turned to Rainbow Dash, "How were Derpy and Ditzy, good I hope?"

Jolting up after having been lying her head on her hooves, she quickly nodded, "Yes, they were good, they were worried about you though."

Everfree nodded her head, electing to visit them in the morning. "Good. It's becoming late, and while I'm sure you all have questions, I feel the need to get out of my current... 'outfit'," Seeing Twilight's eyes sparkle, she giggled to herself as she concentrated on her appearance. That wispy white cloud of fog appeared from nowhere and enveloped the Alicorn, and the ponies watched in fascination as the smoke shrunk, and dissipated, leaving an odd creature in its place.

Her clothes remained the same as before, with the exception of her extra wooden limbs. Her mask was connected to her hip, and she finally was able to stretch out, her joints cracking and popping as she used the beanbag for its proper purpose - to totally relax and sink into it. She wiggled her bare toes, causing some laughter from the pink earth pony, and the two Princesses.

She sighed in comfort, running a hand through her long black hair, and looked to see the reactions in her viewer's faces. Shock was the main one, a deep fascination in Rarity and Twilight's eyes, though, for much different reasons, Everfree suspected. Curiosity and delight ran across the other's faces.

Luna and Celestia simply smiled, leaning in a bit closer, prompting a hand atop each of their heads, which scratched behind their ears. Applejack was dumbfounded at their actions, to be so... familiar, with her, they really were friends for a very long time.

"And this," the human flared her hands, showing off her form, "is who I really am, and before you ask Twilight, I'm human, spelt H-U-M-A-N." Twilight closed her mouth, blushing as the woman saw right through her, and wrote down the information.

Suddenly, Spike approached, a dumbfounded expression on his face. "I... I know you." the infant dragon stated, his void devoid of his usual charm. Everfree looked upon him and moved her hand from Luna's hand (who whinnied a little in disagreement) to rest upon his cheek. The Element's raised their eyebrows, not expecting the dragon to have much to say, let alone that.

In response to the hand resting on his face, Spike raised his own clawed appendage to touch it, "You're... her! The dragons had paintings of you!" The girls all shared a look, realising the purple dragon must've seen some murals during one of his many escapades to the Dragon Lands.

Everfree smiled warmly, "Back before Ponyville was built, I visited the dragons, and shared with them knowledge and skills - while I haven't been there recently, I'm sure some of the Elders may remember me from when they were infants." Spike nodded furiously, drinking up her words with vigour - she was a celebrity to his people!

Truthfully, Everfree hadn't exactly lied to the dragon, but she certainly did not tell him the full truth. In doing so would cause an eruption of questions she simply did not want to answer. Pieces of lore that even the Princesses hadn't been fully aware of - and for now, she would like to keep it that way.

Rainbow Dash yawned, causing an infectious wave of yawns to spread throughout the entire party. Celestia laughed, "It is late, my little ponies, let us all rest, I will be returning to Canterlot with my sister to resume our duties, and Everfree - if she wishes to come, we will come again soon to finish this discussion."

The woman in question blanked, she hadn't expected to leave the forest tonight, and definitely not spend the night in the royal palace. She searched her mind for a reason to have to leave - it's not that she didn't want to be around her two daughters, but she had never been to that new palace, and be around so many new ponies.

She couldn't find a good enough reason, and hesitantly nodded her head, causing Luna to squeal with glee.

Derpy was full to the brim with anxiety, Rainbow Dash had come around unprompted and began asking her about Everfree. Her mind raced with thoughts as Dinky sat atop her back, snoring slightly as she slumbered. Was she in danger? Did the Princesses think she was the danger? Her anxiety grew as she chewed on her bottom lip.

A tap on her window shook her head out of her stupor, and she looked up to see the woman's face smiling at her from outside. She carefully put Dinky down, and quickly trotted to the backdoor, opening it and racing to Everfree to hug her.

"Are you ok?! Rainbow Dash was trying to ask about you and-" A finger was placed on her lips, silencing her.

"I'm ok Derpy, the Princesses came to see me, and wanting to get more information in case they couldn't find me, they had asked the Elements to ask you. I'll give them an earful in the morning for worrying you, but Celestia and Luna want me to accompany them to Canterlot - and I wanted the chance to say goodbye, and that I'll be back soon."

The grey pegasus calmed down, nodding at the tall woman's words. "I'm so glad, it's good you're reconnecting, I hope you have fun, we'll both be waiting for you here." She gestured towards the sleeping filly on the couch, which caused Everfree to coo cutely at the sight.

The human nodded, and ruffled Derpy's mane, causing her eyes to cross. "I wanted to thank you as well, for bringing me out of my shell, I'll make it up to you when I return. I promise." Before the pegasus could reply, the woman was replaced by an ethereal bird, which flew off into the night sky. Derpy could only watch with a complex expression on her face. She had wanted to talk more, find out about how the spirit was doing, but was instead left with a feeling of something not quite being right.

Derpy sighed, fighting the urge to fly after her, turning around to her sleeping daughter and taking her upstairs to tuck her into bed.

As Everfree flew over Ponyville, her mind raced - she really did not want to go to Canterlot, to be so far from the protective bubble of her grove in the forest. The city was unknown, a mystery to her, it stood tall on the side of the mountain, but it was just a pretty sight to her - not a tourist destination. The two Princesses ruled there together, sure, but it remained a symbol of the splinter which occurred one thousand years ago.

Luna had been back for a while now, and Everfree had wanted to see her more than anything, but her mind filled her head with reasons as to why she shouldn't. She was from a bygone era, just a reminder of the past, and the dark Alicorn deserved a second chance.

Spending time with the two Alicorns had been fun, but that gnawing feeling in her stomach kept eating away at her. Her two girls were starting over, and they were happy. Everfree was not. She wasn't used to the emotions which crashed into her like turbulent waves on a rocky shore - she felt like she didn't deserve it.

'After all this time, they still consider me their mother. I have to do this, for them." Everfree told herself, shaking her head at the invading tendrils of self-doubt. As she calmed herself down, her mind was filled with various faces. Dinky's adorable expression while eating a muffin, two small Alicorn Princesses learning how to fly alongside her, and then... two young human children.

One was a small girl, with blonde hair atop a freckled face, wearing denim overhauls over a yellow t-shirt. Her front two teeth had a significant gap in them, giving her the cutest expression Everfree had ever seen when they had smiled. The other was a darker-skinned boy, with black hair cut close to his head, wearing shorts and a shirt with a design from some video game on it, three golden triangles and a blank one in the middle.

The two played together on the swings as Everfree pushed them from behind. They fought each other, the girl biting, while the boy pulled on her braided hair. As memories of a past life flowed through her, Everfree didn't notice the tears that fell from her beak, dropping to the land below.

The Princesses bid their farewells to the Elements and Spike, stating that they are just a scroll away. Everfree awkwardly shuffled next to them, back in her normal form. She gave a meek wave and smiled at the ponies which returned the gesture. She took a deep breath as she turned away from them, looking towards the two Alicorns by her side. She lightly slapped her cheeks with her hands, trying to psyche herself up - causing a curious glance from her companions. They either didn't notice or chose to not talk about how her eyes were slightly redder and more puffy than usual.

Celestia gave Everfree a once-over, ensuring she was ok, and not seeing the turmoil bubbling inside of her, nodded her head, lighting up her horn to teleport the three of them. In a flash, the fields outside of Ponyville changed to marble walls decorated with various paintings and stained-glass windows. Everfree had to regain her balance at the sudden shift and planted her hand on a nearby dresser - which was covered in dust.

Luna coughed at the sudden cloud of particles in the air, not expecting to be placed in a room so old. Celestia blushed, realising she had not kept this room clean for some time. Her horn flashed again as she tried to rapidly clean it, removing the thick layer of grime off the various surfaces. As the room cleared, Everfree was able to get a good look around. It was a bedroom, one that obviously had not been in much use - its walls had some paintings on them, all appearing to be quite ancient, and when she peered closer, she realised their significance.

They were pieces of art she had admired back in the Castle of the Two Sisters when it stood tall. They must've been moved here shortly after Celestia abandoned the old place. It was a miracle they had survived the years as well as they had. Her hand shakily touched the wooden borders, gasping when she realised they were frames she had made back when these art pieces were first commissioned. Celestia had kept them, all this time.

Her eyes teared up as she looked to the ceiling, seeing a painted sky sharing its space with the sun and the moon. Little daffodils and nightshades were decorating the bottom of the walls as if they were sprouting from the floor. There were various empty plant pots, the dirt dried and cracked from a lack of attention and watering.

"Sister, what room is this? I do not think we have ever been in here before." Luna stated, curiously exploring the room. Celestia smiled at the two, knowing that one of her best-kept secrets stayed as such.

"When this castle was first constructed, I gave clear instructions of three specific rooms to be built, one for me, one for you, Luna, and..."

"Another, for me." Everfree finished, her tears flowing freely now. She turned to the white Alicorn, hugging her tight. "I'm so sorry, Tia. I never should have said those things to you. I've regretted it every day since." Memories of their 'fight' played in both of their minds, the woman's sharp words laced with venom as Celestia had tried to talk to her after Luna's banishment.

"Please, it was a hard time for us all, I'm sorry I never tried to contact you after. We were both troubled, distraught, I don't blame you." Celestia replied into the woman's neck, feeling her soft black hair on her muzzle. She smelled like tree sap, not unpleasant, and oddly sweet.

Luna watched in confusion - she knew something had happened between the two, but never was able to get any information out of her sister about it. Choosing to press the matter at a later date, she continued to explore. The bed here was the same size as her own- large and magnificent. It could comfortably fit a handful of ponies, and an idea popped into her head - one she would act on later.

The bed sheets were a dark purple, and thanks to the cleaning spell mere moments ago, were freshly cleaned, smelling slightly like vanilla. She gazed out a window, realising they were at the top floor of a tower sprouting from the castle, one that looked like a simple guard's tower from the outside.

Everfree broke her hug, realising she had felt tears on her neck, and cupped Celestia's cheeks with her hands, wiping her eyes with her thumbs. The pony leaned into her warm palms, nuzzling them. They smiled warmly at each other, and Everfree's inner wall of doubt began to slowly crack and crumble.

"But yes, this bedroom is yours Everfree. It's been here alongside the rest of the castle since its construction. I used to visit here often but I fell out of the habit when Luna returned - but I'm sure you can make use of these plant pots. That is if you wish to stay here." Celestia's voice wobbled, her throat slightly worn from her crying.

Everfree's face faltered, she looked around the room and sighed quietly. "This is beautiful, Tia, but my home... I belong in the forest - I need to find out what's happening there." the white Alicorn looked down, and the woman quickly added, "But, I promise, I will make use of this room. I'll stay here when I come to visit - to be honest, you'll probably have to kick me out if that bed is as soft as it looks."

Celestia's eyes sparkled, and she beamed at the woman's words. The three shared a moment, as they tested out the mattress of the bed, all lying down atop it. The two Princesses nuzzled into Everfree's side, who put her arms under their necks and brought them into a hug as she looked up at the ceiling - a goofy smile on her face.

Celestia yawned, she never was much of a night owl, and before she could retire to her own quarters, she had begun quietly snoring into Everfree's chest. Luna and Everfree giggled, and the woman whispered, "sleep-over?" which caused the dark Alicorn to nod her head, and rest her muzzle atop the other soft object on the woman's chest, who giggled, "That tickles, Lulu."

Feeling the radiating warmth from the two, Everfree fell into a deep sleep alongside the white Alicorn, sleeping on her back with her arms pinned under the weight of the two beside her.

Luna, however, did not sleep. She had been awake all day, but the night was her domain, and she was too giddy to submit to her tiredness. One all-dayer wouldn't hurt. As she listened to the peaceful breaths from her mother and sister, she attuned to her duties - and began to dream walk.

Everfree awoke in a familiar house. She was alone in her bed, which which now significantly smaller than the one she had fallen asleep on, and was covered in pink sheets decorated with yellow floral designs. As she looked around, she began to feel dread build up within her.

Her childhood bedroom, the walls covered with polaroids of various faces from her youth - all blurred except for two, a young girl with blonde braided hair, and a young boy with short black hair. A buzzing computer at her desk, whirring as it displayed various job openings - and a bunch of letters on the keyboard, all blaring the word 'FINAL NOTICE' in red ink.

There was a standing mirror in the corner, next to some bookshelves, and Everfree fought herself to not look, but such a choice wasn't up to her - and found herself in front of it. She had to look down at her reflection, seeing a light-skinned girl with long black hair tied in a ponytail staring back at her. She had big bags under her eyes from a collection of restless nights, and her expression was filled with malice.

She only glared, not uttering a word as she stabbed the adult woman with her dagger-like eyes. Everfree pulled away from the sight, racing to the bedroom door, gripping its copper handle as she tugged on it. The other side of the door was a black abyss, and she heard her footsteps echo for miles.

Deep in the inky blackness, she heard crying, and she instantly started sprinting towards the noises - she knew those cries, she couldn't ever forget them. As her feet connected to the ground beneath her, she felt a sinking sensation, and soon the ground was up to her waist. "MAISIE! ADRIAN! I'M HERE!" Everfree screamed out, begging for them to come find her.

"You're not here. You never are," a feminine voice said to her side. Everfree whipped her head around, looking up at the small girl in front of her, who was staring down at her with a similar expression to her reflection from earlier.

"No... I was making sure we could afford to stay at our house!" she tried to explain but started to sink further into the ground.

"You LEFT US!" a boy shouted on her other side. Everfree pleadingly looked at the two of them as she continued to descend into the black goop beneath her.

"I didn't mean to! Adrian, please... I wouldn't ever leave you."

"But you did," Maisie stated, as she squatted in front of the adult woman in front of her, "You left us here alone, Winry."

Everfree sobbed as she gave up trying to claw her way out of the ground, "You left us to fend for ourselves!" Adrian yelled into her ear. The woman sank deeper, and soon the black goop was filling her mouth as she tried to reply - choking on the thick sludge clogging her throat.

"BEGONE!"

The world raptured with a blinding white light. The figures melted away, continuing to maliciously stare at the woman, who sputtered and breathed deep intakes of air to fill her lungs with had been deprived of such a luxury. She weakly stared up at the shining light in the sky, holding a hand up to try and block some of the blinding rays.

She heard wings flap, and four hooves connect to the ground in front of her, "Mother, are you alright? I'm here now, it is all okay."

Luna... Luna was here? She had never interrupted this dream before.

"Lulu... what happened? How are you here?" Everfree asked, still trying to steal as much air as possible as her heart thundered in her chest. She was on her hands and knees, looking up to her saviour.

"Tia has her duties, and I have mine, I ward off nightmares in our ponies - this is the first time I've ever been able to get to yours," Luna explained, helping the woman up. Everfree wrapped an arm around her barrel as her legs shook beneath her. The dark Alicorn waited patiently for her mother's beating heart to soothe to its regular rhythm.

"Thank you, Luna," Everfree said, as she weakly smiled, "my dreams usually end in much worse ways."

"This nightmare is common?! How long have you had them?" Luna asked, her eyes full of worry.

"They've been with me since I first got here, I don't have them every night, but... sometimes they just happen," Everfree stated, staring at the ground to avoid the sickening pity in the pony's eyes.

"This is most worrying, who... who are they?" There it was, the question Everfree knew was coming, and her breath hitched as she paused.

"They're from my old home. They are... were... my brother and sister."

Everfree had spoken about her 'old home' multiple times in the past, a place where her mother and father resided - but she had never once discussed her siblings. Other than brief references to her father's musical talent, or her mother's cooking, she never really expanded on much. Luna wanted to know so much more but had to be tactful.

"You never spoke of them. Did something happen?" Luna winced, realising she had gone straight to the point instead of trying to carefully extract information.

"I left them when I came here, Luna. I didn't have a choice!" Everfree cried, Luna reeling her head back at the sudden yell, "Our mum and dad... they weren't around anymore, and it was all up to me to take care of them, and I LEFT THEM!"

Luna turned her body to bring the sobbing woman into a tight embrace, letting her cry into her chest. She continued to grip tuffs of her coat, her body shaking as her tears stained the pony's dark fur. Luna whispered comforts to her, trying to soothe the spirit.

After a time which felt like hours, Everfree managed to pull herself away, and a very weak smile was on her face as she looked up at the pony, "Thank you, Luna. I never wanted to burden you girls with this."

"Nonsense, this is the least I could do, truly," the Alicorn responded. They sat together for a moment, enjoying the other's presence. A mischievous smirk found itself on Luna's muzzle as she spoke, "So, Winry?"

Everfree looked at her with a wide-eyed expression, before looking away and grumbling to herself, "You heard that, did you?" Luna nodded, her smirk becoming a big toothy grin. The human ran a hand through her hair as she sighed.

"You got me, you little sneak. Everfree isn't my first name." Luna nodded, assuming that was the case, and gestured a hoof to urge her on - causing the woman the frown as she realised she was now forced into submitting a secret. "You're painful, you know that?" She stood herself up and made a sophisticated pose as the Princess. "Winry Winters Everfree, at your service." She did a mock bow, which Luna giggled at.

She struck a finger up, pointing at Luna's nose, causing her to go cross-eyed as she stared at it. "You leak this information and I promise you, there will be nowhere you can hide. I have ears everywhere." Luna furiously nodded at the threat, knowing that she most likely did have little birds all over the country reporting to her. Why she wanted her name a secret was above her, it was beautiful and ran off the tongue - it should be pelted from rooftops!

But alas, Luna had stolen a lot of information tonight, some of which Everfree had never wanted to tell, and she had to respect her wishes. The pony always looked up to the human as an impenetrable wall, that stood firm in the face of danger. She could stare down a dragon, tackle a minotaur, raise Tartarus itself - but this night had revealed so much more. She was still all of that, but deep down, this woman had cracks, and little leaks in her walls threatening to flood her mind. She wasn't a god, she wasn't unbeatable - she was just a woman, like herself.

"Mother, I promise I won't tell a soul, but these dreams are troubling - they have meaning, there is turmoil in you, and we must try and fix it," Luna said, pleading with the woman to see reason.

"I'm old, Lulu. Older than I should be. Even before I met you girls I had been around far longer than my time should've allowed. Humans aren't meant for eternal life, days can feel like seconds, passing by in the blink of an eye. It's difficult trying to comprehend everything that's going on up here." Everfree knocked her head with her knuckles, a sad smile on her lips.

Luna only felt her resolve strengthen, she knew how lonely those one thousand years were, and she was determined to not let her mother think the same thoughts she did atop the moon's surface.

"I promise you I will help, this brother and sister of yours, they are blood relatives?"

Everfree nodded, confused at the question.

"Come next evening, visit my quarters, I think I have a small solution to some of your problems," Luna stated, standing firm. The woman knew better than to object when she was in a mood such as this and laughed under her breath. She agreed, and before too long, the dream ended.

Celestia had been blushing nonstop since she had woken up, she hadn't intended to fall asleep on Everfree's chest like that - but the sensation of being next to her again, like when she was a foal, was just too overwhelming, and she fell into a peaceful slumber.

She had left the room before the other two, beginning to resume her daily duties, meeting with annoying and cynical nobles, and discussing matters with locals who wished for opportunities to start businesses. All she wanted was to just stay in her mother's arms, and have a story read to her. Her feeling of missing her had only grown since they had reunited.

Atop her throne, she listened to yet another uppity rich pony try to explain why it was simply uncouth to allow a bakery to be made in the middle of a district which was heavily populated by tourists. She began to tune his voice out as she began to get excited for later tonight.

Luna hadn't really slept until Celestia left the room and felt the sun daring to blast its way through the stained windows - painting the room with a plethora of colours. She wanted to retreat to her own chambers with her black-out curtains and sleep the day away, but she didn't want to leave Everfree's side, especially not after the woman's dreams.

So instead she went underneath the bedsheets, trying to find as much darkness as possible, and curled into a ball as she finally began to nod off. Being disturbed by the sudden movement beside her, Everfree groggily opened her eyes, hearing the snoring coming from the big lump underneath the duvet.

She tried to get back to sleep but felt her body's natural functions decide their priority was first. Grateful for a washroom connecting to her own, she entered, pulling her hair into a loose ponytail, as she emptied her bladder, and began to wash her face in the sink - which had appropriately been made for her to use in her current form. She giggled, imagining the poor pony having to try and decipher why he was building such a tall appliance.

In fact, a lot of her furniture was built with a human in mind, and she elected that she really must thank Celestia again for all the effort. She looked into her bathroom's mirror, pulling at her face. She looked well-rested, probably Luna's doing, and traced her cheeks with a finger. Smooth as always, not a wrinkle in sight. She scowled a little, realising that she would have been more wrinkled than skin if she had aged appropriately, that or a dry bag of bones.

She winced, 'Oof, morbid,' she thought to herself, as she began to wash her body in a wooden bathtub - Celestia must have tried to keep furniture up to date through the developments of the years - either with magic or some plumbing ponies coming to visit the mysterious room atop the towers.

Smelling like a lime, she returned to her room, steam wafting after her. There was a handful of freshly folded clothes atop a dresser - a gift from the solar Princess. Picking out a yellow dress with various floral patterns running up and down its side, she threw it on, as she prodded at the pony-shaped lump under her bedsheets, which tried to swat her away at first.

"Luna, I'm going to do some sightseeing, I think I saw a garden when I looked out the window, so I'll be out there for a while. You can return to your bedroom now." Everfree explained, giggling at the sleep-deprived Alicorn as she hugged her, who then teleported to her own room, embracing the cool darkness and instantly falling asleep as soon as she touched the bed.

Everfree saw a door leading to a small balcony outside her tower and walked out - preparing to take flight as a bird to fly over to the magnificent statue garden down below. As she stretched her arms, she soon heard a noise beside her as a creature popped into existence.

"Lady Everfree? Is it true? You've returned?"

"I never left, Discord," Everfree replied, choosing to lean against the balcony as the draconequus floated in front of her. She never had much of a hard time with the odd fellow, she actually quite liked him - that was until he figured his way was the best way and tried to upset the natural order of things. Though she had heard he turned over a new leaf and felt herself giddy about having an old friend back.

Discord did a low bow and reached a clawed appendage out, intending to take Everfree's hand - which she offered to him. She giggled as he kissed the top of her hand, like a noble knight in those old fairytales. "Fluttershy told me about you, and I'll be the first to admit how much I've missed you!"

"I'm afraid the two Princesses have beaten you to the punch, but I've missed you too Discord. I'm heading to the garden, do you wish to accompany me?" she asked, trying not to laugh as his eyes shot up with excitement.

"I would want nothing more!" Discord proudly stated, "Shall we go together or do you wish to meet me there?"

"I want to stretch my wings and see some of this city from above, but I will be there post-haste, Sir Discord." The lord of chaos did another deep bow and blinked away. The two's relationship would be considered weird for people who weren't in the know - but back when Discord had first met with Everfree and the Princesses, he was still learning some of his own powers - and unlike pony magic, Everfree saw a similarity with his and her own, and was able to teach him a multitude of different techniques - the largest one being shapeshifting.

He eventually found his own technique and explored his various other abilities, but he had a deep respect for the woman for housing him while others scorned his appearance. Jokingly stating one night that he was a knight of the Everfree - which became less of a joke as the two continued to use it when they spoke.

Excited for the day, she stepped onto the balcony's railing and soon flew off in the form of a ghostly falcon streaking through the sky.

"And this is where I was stuck in stone, Milady!" Discord gestured to an empty rock pedestal, which prompted another giggle from the woman. The two had been walking together through the various patches of flowers and trees, gazing upon different statues of the Princesses' (or Element's) conquests.

There weren't any other ponies around, thankfully, so Everfree didn't feel the desire to hide her form. They probably saw or heard Discord and decided to come to visit another day, which the woman didn't really blame them for, he had a rather unique personality. As the two looked upon the barren surface in front of them, Discord suddenly clicked his fingers - remembering something.

"Oh! Lady Everfree, I'm sure you'll love this. During my time in rehabilitation, I've been sneaking off to practice my shape-shifting!" he stated, hands on his hips as he puffed his chest out. Everfree brought a hand to her chest with mock astonishment and urged him to show her.

Discord snapped his fingers again, becoming a gross amalgamation of a house cat with insectoid legs, and the same head as usual. It was pretty difficult to look at, but Everfree clapped anyway, trying to not look too closely at the gross hairy limbs. "But this is one of many, wait until you see this one!"

Discord showed off various different forms, all weird and bizarre to look at. He was like a toddler showing off his toy collection to any adult that would listen - and the human found it adorable. Finally, as he showed off a weird cross of a snake and a millipede, he decided to reveal his trump card. He managed to snap two of the limbs together and become something Everfree hadn't expected.

Standing in front of her was a human, an older gentleman with salt and pepper hair, rocking a grey goatee, wearing a dapper plaid brown suit. The woman couldn't help but gasp, as she laid a hand upon his chest. Discord wiggled his eyebrows, "You like what you see?"

Everfree let out a shuddered breath, trying to collect herself, "Discord, I... I never expected to see another human again." Realising his trick didn't have the effect he had planned, he course-corrected.

"Consider this my gift to you, if you ever need to bask in the presence of another like yourself, instead of these dubious ponies, you just give me a call." Everfree cocked her head, wondering if cellphones popped into existence at some point, but surmounting it to his bizarre antics, but smiled warmly at the man in front of her, bringing him into a tight hug. He gestured forward, urging them both to continue their walk.

Everfree couldn't be more happy to agree, basking in the presence beside her.

Everfree had returned to her room shortly after Discord departed back to Fluttershy's cottage, radiating joy as she basically skipped around her room. All her doubts and her self-loathing had all melted away, replaced with a feeling of deep gratitude for those around her. She plopped onto her bed, smiling a big silly smile, recalling the feeling of interlocking her fingers with another human hand for the first time in many years.

Her stomach decided to interrupt her thoughts, realising she hadn't eaten all day. She looked out the window, to see the sun falling behind the horizon, washing the skies with a beautiful orange glow. 'Luna wanted me to meet with her in her chambers, I may as well pick some food up on the way down.'

Becoming a less conspicuous form, she decided to wear the zebra again - a big culture melting point like the capital is sure to have some, right?

Again, she was wrong, catching curious stares as she strolled through the castle's halls. Oddly, she didn't feel any traces of a headache coming along - considering all the shifting she had done as of late, she had expected to be in bed for multiple days popping painkilling pills. Maybe it was her good mood? She didn't know, and at that moment, she didn't really care.

She managed to grab a bite to eat from the kitchen, which had been a bit of a hassle to convince the chefs to depart with some of their food - which was thankfully solved by Luna suddenly appearing behind the zebra, glaring at the ponies to do what they were told.

Everfree happily munched on a salad as the two walked towards the lunar Princess' bedroom together, happily humming as she chowed down. Luna, however, was oddly quiet and was deep in concentration. When they arrived at the huge black doors leading into the room, the two guards stoically raised their spears, allowing the stranger to have access while she was in attendance of the Princess.

The room was dark, illuminated by flickering candles, and a swirling galaxy on the ceiling, its various stars twinkling as it continued to slowly spin. Celestia was in the room too, reading a journal on a desk. She turned to greet her sister and hug the zebra, who was still pretty happy to just continue eating.

Disappointed as she finished the bowl, Everfree finally smartened up, relinquishing her form as she stood to her full height. "Ok, girls, what's happening here?" she asked curiously, trying to take a peek at what Celestia was reading.

"We believe we can help solve your nightmare issue," Luna stated, her face serious. "But the magic used here will be troublesome, and may take a lot out of us."

"You don't have to do this for me, Luna, seriously, especially not if you might get hurt." retorted the human, who decided to give up trying to catch a peak as Celestia kept hiding the writing from her. Luna shook her head.

"It will be done. Fear not us getting hurt, we will most likely just be quite tired after the ordeal." She nodded to her sister, prodding her to continue explaining.

"Everfree, we have been reading an ancient scroll, one from our very own Starswirl, on his research about your home. With some tweaks, we believe we've been able to create a window of sorts, to allow you to look into it." Celestia said, getting up from the desk to stand alongside Luna. "Or, at the very least, create a window to view who you hold dear."

Everfree blanked, "It's been a very long time, girls, I don't think there will be anything left for us to see." she explained, trying to get across the point that she would rather not see two graves lost to time.

"Nonsense, the window itself is not too draining, but we will also be trying to turn back time, so we can see how they lived after you left," Luna stated, still pushing ever forward with her idea.

The woman felt conflicted, all the worst possible outcomes ran through her mind. Her siblings fending for themselves, bitter and angry at their older sister abandoning them - or starving to death as they slept rough on a bench. But, there was a small glimmer of hope, that they lived full lives, and that mere thought overpowered the others.

Determined, Everfree nodded. "What do you need from me?"

Celestia looked away, as Luna magicked over a knife. "We need some blood." Everfree gripped the handle, expecting the blade. It looked ceremonious and wondered why her daughter had such an object in her possession. Infected with the dark Alicorn's resolve, the woman brought the blade to her palm and cut without hesitation.

Some gauze was wrapped around Everfree's left hand, Celestia had been quick to heal the wound but wanted to be extra sure - scolding the woman for causing such a deep wound. Everfree hadn't listened, and instead got to work getting things in order as she wiped her bloodied palm over a mirror's surface.

The mirror absorbed the crimson liquid, and it flashed several different colours. Luna stood next to it and urged Celestia to take the overside, and they both began to pour magic into the object. It let out a horrific noise of metal on metal as it rapidly showed off different images. A young baby being held in their mother's arms, a toddler with black hair learning to walk, their first tooth being lost, their father strumming a ukelele, two younger children sitting beside a teenager, and finally, a memory Everfree knew all too well.

The mirror slowed, as it showed a young woman, barely turned eighteen, walking down the street, hands deep in her pockets as rain poured down. The two Ponies beside the mirror strained their eyes to see, curious to see what this world was like, gasping at the sight of the houses and roads.

The woman was not concentrating, her mind occupied with thoughts of job rejections, as her phone blasted music through its headphones. Her expression was a deep scowl, an almost bitter anger as she walked home from an interview at a local fast-food chain.

Suddenly, and without warning, the woman was surrounded by a white cloud, it stuck to her like glue, and as quick as it came, it was gone - along with the woman. Current day Everfree blinked, as she thought she had slipped or fallen, not that she was pulled into this world by some external force.

Luna nodded to Celestia, sweat rolling down her brow as she focused on changing the perspective. "Mother, where would your siblings have been in this moment?"

"At home, it's-" she was cut off as the mirror reflected the living room of her house. Celestia's knees buckled a bit, and Everfree rushed over to keep her holding up. "It's ok, Tia, just a little longer." The white Alicorn nodded slowly, forcing more magic from her horn.

The mirror kept flashing through different rooms, all empty. Everfree grew panicked. "No, this isn't right, they were here, watching cartoons on the TV!" she yelled at the mirror, and in response it transitioned to an empty sofa, and a TV with no viewers blaring some animated show about transforming robots. "This isn't right!"

"Calm yourself! We... Just... Need... To..." Luna forced the words out through gritted teeth, as time turned backwards, it showed off two human children sitting on their knees, much closer to the TV than they were ever allowed to do so. Time turned back to normal, and Everfree watched with her eyes glued to the surface. "Maisie, Adrian..." she whispered.

They bickered at what TV show to watch, the girl wanting to not watch Transformers anymore, which caused the boy to stick out his tongue. As Maisie prepared to leap on her brother to fight for control of the remote, they were both struck with the same white cloud as the young Everfree.

The woman watched in horror as they cried out, their clouds lasting a little longer, "Maisie! What's happening?!" the boy screamed.

"I- I don't know! Winry! WINRY!" Maisie yelled, as she suddenly disappeared into the fog alongside her brother. The room was left empty again, the TV hauntingly blaring some advert for a new resort which had opened on the coast.

Everfree said nothing, stepping back as the weight of the world fell on her. Losing the strength in her legs, she fell to her knees. The mirror changed once more, finding no one to view - it changed to the closest blood relatives. A storm was raining down above two stone slabs in the ground. Both engraved with the words 'Loving Parents', as well as two sets of years.

Everfree couldn't take it anymore, and cried out, yelling at the Princesses to stop. Immediately the energy dropped, and all that could be heard was the deep panting of the ponies. Deep sorrow stained their eyes, as Luna spoke up, "Mother, I'm... I'm so sorry."

The woman said nothing, looking to the ground as her mind raced.

Luna looked at her sister with a worried look but saw a glazed-over expression covering her face. Celestia's eyebrows shot up, and with a deep breath, forced one more ounce of magic out of her horn. The mirror shook to life again, but this time it showed Equestria. Luna gasped, realising what her sister was thinking, and began to help.

Everfree looked up at the two, wanting to beg them both to stop. She couldn't help but be entranced by the mirror's surface as it rapidly shifted through different areas of the country, before going to wider areas of Equus itself. Her mind, garbled up from what she had just witnessed, finally put some pieces together.

The mirror began to show a mountain, huge pine trees covering its surface. It continued to zoom in, as it showed a log cabin. It was old, but well cared for - and all its proportions were distinctly non-pony. Everfree felt her heart in her throat as it began to show off the inside, and she witnessed a sight she would not soon forget.

Skinning a rabbit was a young dark-skinned man, with a scruffy beard on his face as he meticulously carved away meat for a pot, and beside him was a young blonde woman, with her ever-persistent blonde braids, chopping various vegetables. Decorating a wall beside the two of them was a plaque with three names, alongside little notes. Isiah Davids Everfree - Loving Father, Sarah Julian Everfree - Loving Mother, and lastly, Winry Winters Everfree, Loving Sister.

The mirror fizzled out as its surface cracked, but it mattered little, as the two Princesses collapsed from exertion. Everfree ran over and brought their heads to rest on her lap as she rubbed their manes. Luna weakly looked up, expecting to receive a scolding, but instead saw a warm smile on her mother's face. "I'm so proud of you girls, thank you." She leaned down to kiss the foreheads of the Princesses, who shortly fell into deep slumbers.

Everfree picked them up one at a time and deposited them onto Luna's bed. This information was harrowing at first, but it ignited a flame inside of her, one that grew to a roaring inferno as she looked out the window at the night sky.

Her siblings were here in Equus, the same as her, and she would stop at nothing to find them.

Author's Note

First and foremost, while Celestia and Luna have been focal points, Derpy and Dinky are both still main characters in this story for a reason! We will be back with them soon enough, but it appears that Miss Winry Everfree has some work to do first.

What brought this family to Equus, are there any reasons why? How did the two children survive this long? I feel this chapter introduced many more questions than answered (did it answer any?), but I've been having a lot of fun writing it.

Trapped In Amber

Author's Note

The first chapter I wrote was a one-shot, but I got caught up in so many different ideas for various stories with Everfree that I just felt like I had to write more. The first chapter can stand on its own if you aren't interested in where this story will go, but from here on out it will be a direct continuation of the story established.

Who is Everfree? What is she? She's lived a long life, and how many stories are there in her long legacy? Some mysteries to solve, and some slices of the cake called life to eat, I hope you'll join me on the ride.

Also, if you can guess the chapter and story title's themes/references, I'll bake you a cookie!

Trapped In Amber

"So, Miss Everfree, you said you're older than the Princesses? Have you ever met either of them?" Dinky inquisitively asked, with a mouthful of doughnut threatening to stop the words from coming out. Derpy scolded her daughter with just a stare that only a child of a mother can recognise.

Everfree sat crosslegged, in her bipedal form. The trio had been sharing these picnics for a couple of months since the first night they had met, and while Derpy was surprised at her new friends' transformation abilities, she figured it was still her, no matter their appearance. The last few times they met, the tall figure would show up as such, clearly more comfortable in that skin.

She chowed down on her own pastry, which was absolutely smothered in cream cheese and filled with cinnamon. Her smile grew several sizes and she gleefully squealed in delight as she devoured her favourite treat. Not wanting to receive the same look the young filly had gotten, she swallowed her mouthful, and responded with a nod, "I did, several times, actually. They were so small back then, but I haven't seen them in a very long time now, not since they abandoned their old castle."

The Castle of the Two Sisters, long abandoned by their namesakes shortly after one had sent the other to live on the moon for a thousand years. While dilapidated and worn down over the past millennia, it stood as a memory of long-lost times.

Derpy, turning away from her daughter now that she was slowing down her ravenous eating, looked upon Everfree's face. Taking note of the small smile on her face as her eyes bore into her sugary delight. From what the pony could tell, she was reminiscing over some cherished memories. "Do you miss them?"

The tall figure left her mind and stared back up at the grey pegasus, looking into her golden eyes. "I do, it's been so long since I used to babysit those young girls."

"B-Babysit? Like a foal-sitter?" Dinky squeaked out, astonished but yet another drop of substantial information from her friend. Everfree nodded and corrected herself.

"Ah, yes, sorry, foal-sit those young fillies. It was many, many years ago. I first met them in a similar way to how I first met you!" She booped Dinky on her nose and laughed softly as her eyes began to cross. The expression reminded her of Derpy's face when she was lost in thought. After collecting herself, and realising what the spirit had said, Dinky's pastel purple fur grew a shade of red around the cheeks and she looked anywhere but in the direction of the two adults next to her.

"But yes, when they were still young fillies, probably not too much older than you, Dinky, I was asked to take care of them by an old wizard with a long beard." She tapped her chin with a finger, accidentally leaving a splotch of cream cheese just under the bottom lip - which she promptly removed with a lick of her tongue. "Starspin the Beady? No, that isn't right..."

"Starswirl the Bearded!" Dinky proudly answered, puffing her chest in pride. Everfree giggled ever so softly again, a noise the two ponies would never grow tired of, and gave the filly a scratch behind the ear as a reward, which she was ever so thankful for.

"Ah, such a smart filly, I bet you take right after your mum!" Derpy blushed and hid behind her bangs as she was suddenly brought into conversation after just happily watching it unfold. Seeing straight through Everfree's ploy of making Dinky remember her lessons from school. Thinking of how well she did with her daughter, she pondered over the thought of letting the woman return to her foal-sitting duties once more with the unicorn that beamed happily up at her.

"But yes, that old coot, he was always so grouchy with me, but he trained those Princesses well, I'll give him that." Finally turning back to her cinnamon roll, she finished it in just a few more bites and began to sip from a cup of orange-flavoured tea.

Dinky had so many more questions, about the world back then, about the Princesses, and everything else she could learn from and about this woman. Alas, the picnic was coming to an end, the treats had been demolished by the hungry trio, and the drinks were running out.

Additionally, with how full her belly had become after eating a borderline unhealthy amount of muffins and doughnuts, she started to feel very tired. Trying to fight the battle of sleep, she opened her mouth to ask something - which was interrupted by a yawn.

Dinky promptly lost the battle.

Cradled in her mother's hooves, the remaining pair sat in silence for a while, sipping on their flavoured teas. The air was warm, and the land around was beautiful - brimming with life, from small chirping insects to huge patches of blue bell-shaped flowers surrounding them both.

Derpy noticed that the past couple of times they had met with Everfree, the forest seemed to explode in new and vibrant life. She looked over her friend, taking in her painted arms and face, and her clothing, which looked a lot more comfortable than the dress she wore when she first showed herself in her 'original' form, as the woman had put it.

It looked similar to the clothing that those bodybuilding ponies would wear sometimes, though why they decided to put on clothing to work out was a question she doubted she would ever get the answer to. Thin straps over her shoulders, connected to a shirt which ended by her waist, which also was adjourned by a loose-fitting, flowy pair of green trousers. The bottoms of which flared out, which kind of gave off the impression that Everfree had very huge ankles. Derpy giggled at the thought, as Everfree looked over and smiled.

"I can tell you're thinking something silly, Miss Hooves." The woman stated as she put her cup down on the picnic blanket. A mischievous glint in her eyes which paired well with the slight smirk on her face.

"Oh, nothing to worry about," Derpy replied, smirking right back at her, "though I have been thinking about how beautiful this area has become lately, can't help but think it has something to do with these picnics of ours."

They both looked around, demonstrating the pegasus' point. Birds tweeted in the branches above, building new nests or returning to old ones with some new materials they had found. Colours of the rainbow were splashed on all the flowers in the area as they erupted from what used to be trodden patches of dirt, or crawling their way up tree trunks.

"Haha, I guess it has, me and nature, we've been attuned ever since I first got here. It responds to my emotions more than it does my will, sometimes. Though..." Everfree brushed a hand over a sprouting flower next to her, "I would be lying if I said I wouldn't wish for this to be happening."

'Since I first got here?' Derpy pondered, 'Where did she come from?' Not wanting to take this bit of information away from her daughter as she slept, as she would undoubtedly have a thousand more questions to ask upon hearing that, she decided to let the moment pass.

"I guess, I haven't been truly happy in a long time. I've not been sad or upset, I can't even say I've been too lonely with the animals around, but I haven't felt... happy." Everfree's eyes adopted a look of longing, as the green orbs swirled in a mixture of different emotions. "Thank you, for coming to see me each week. It means much more than you know."

"Please, this is nothing compared to what you did for Dinks," Derpy responded, fighting back a small number of tears threatening to drop down her face as she heard her friend's words and her feelings. She tried not to think back on the panic she felt when her daughter had sprinted off after their last fight, and when she lost track of the small unicorn as she weaved through Ponyville.

"All the food you've brought me, which I doubt is good for my waistline, is more than enough repayment, not that I ever required any in the first place. If anything, I probably owe you another gift, maybe I cou-" Everfree began to mutter to herself, talking about growing a fruit tree for her or trying to create a hollowed-out treehouse.

Derpy laughed at this ancient spirit trying to come up with all these types of methods of repayment, and as she went to object, a lightbulb flashed above her head. She lifted a hoof, ensuring she didn't disturb the sleeping filly, to interrupt her. "If you must insist, I do have something you can help me with," Everfree looked at the pegasus thoughtfully, "how about you foal-sit this little one soon? I wouldn't mind a night to myself now and again."

"I..." the woman began to blink rapidly, fighting off some tears, "I would like that very much."

The trio said their goodbyes, Dinky waving tiredly as she yawned atop her mother's back. Everfree smiled and waved back as she watched them leave from the treeline, and shared a knowing look at Derpy, who hadn't informed the filly of their deal.

Once they entered Ponyville's outskirts, Everfree took a moment to drink up the sight. Lights and lanterns were turning on as the twilight sky above them darkened. Ponies of all various colours and sizes wandered around, finishing up their days, and beginning their nights - it was the weekend after all.

She spotted a pair of teenage unicorns in a park and gleefully watched as the colt tried to carefully rest his hoof around the other's shoulders, who decided not to be so tactful, and just lean her body against his. "Life is beautiful," Everfree thought to herself and turned her gaze towards a mountain nearby, which housed a magnificent castle, and city below. "I wonder how my girls are doing."

The woman continued to stand there for a while, suddenly acutely aware of how lonely she now felt without her two friends sharing a meal with her. She wrapped herself in her arms, hugging herself, before crouching down, and having a white mist envelope her.

When the cloud dissipated, what was once a tall bipedal creature, was now a translucent falcon, its wings and tailfeathers trailing off into wisps of ethereal smoke. It glanced around, before taking flight back over the forest, heading deep within its heart.

Derpy had lots to think about.

Everfree had said she wasn't sad or lonely, but she just knew that wasn't the truth. How quickly she embraced the idea of those picnics, how she was always at their spot instantly, or sometimes even there before them, eagerly awaiting their weekly rendezvous. How she always lingered as she watched Dinky and herself leave, even if the woman didn't think they had seen her waiting. She can talk to animals, as evident from the birds that talk to her, but were they friends? It didn't appear to be like how Fluttershy and her animals were close, and it definitely didn't seem like the friendship between the mare and Discord.

In all honesty, she offered the foal-sitting job before even thinking of a reason for one. Wanting to get Everfree out of the 'house' and be near other ponies, and make some friends with Dinky. The woodland spirit may be ancient, but it didn't appear to be very smart when it came to their wants or emotions.

...She would have to bake more cinnamon rolls to apologise for the thought.

Dinky was currently sleeping in her bedroom, while Derpy sat downstairs, sipping on some cider she kept around for evenings like these. The thought of going out with some friends of her own, maybe even talking to a nice stallion, was exciting, but it had been a long time since she left Dinky with a sitter. But, of all the ones she could think of, Everfree felt like the perfect option.

She was a mother in her own way, and from the stories both she and Dinky had told her, she helped raise that forest, literally breathing life into it. When and why it became so corrupted sprang to her mind often, but anywhere the woman touched, it was as if she was bringing it back to how it once was. A beautiful oasis of flowers and wildlife, untouched by the monsters that roamed within.

Lots to think about, but it was already late, and Derpy stifled a yawn. Finishing off her glass of cider, she got up, washed up, and headed to bed.

The following Friday, the Hooves' household was bustling with activity. Derpy was grabbing various bits and bobs to put into her saddlebags as she said she was heading to Canterlot for the night with some friends. Dinky was buzzing around, asking where she was going, who she was seeing, and where she was staying, but a repeated question that kept filling the air was; "But what about me?"

Derpy smirked to herself and said that a foal-sitter would be coming to take care of her. "You better be on your best behaviour Dinks! I don't want to have to come home for you harassing the poor mare." A stern warning, but even Dinky could tell there was a hint of impishness to her words.

"Who is it? Is it Cheerilee? Pinkie Pie?" As she continued to list off names, Derpy snuck to an open window, and whispered a familiar phrase to the wind, before closing it and heading towards the front door. The small unicorn followed, all the while still naming every pony she could think of.

"-Princess Twilight? Princess Celestia? Princ-" She was cut off, a small knocking could be heard at the front door, and weirdly low down as well. Her mother even appeared surprised, and as she opened the door, the look of shock only grew.

A small white bunny hopped into the house, its nose twitching as its big beady eyes looked around at the pair.

"Is that, uhh, what's their name... Angel? Is Fluttershy coming over?!" Dinky asked, getting excited at the thought of the yellow pegasus coming over to tell her bedtime stories in that soft voice of hers.

Instead, Derpy collected herself and giggled behind a raised hoof. "I think you'll find this sitter the best there is." And, as if planned, a white cloud surrounded the bunny, and as the fog grew in size, so did the creature inside, when it finally dissipated a familiar woman was standing in the Hooves' household.

"Everfree!" Dinky gleefully yelled, immediately hugging the tall woman's legs. The two adults giggled as the woman reached down to rub the fillies head. While scratching, Everfree turned to Derpy.

"Sorry I had to pretend a bit there, I don't think the ponies would respond well to me in my normal form, or a ghostly deer strolling through town." She blushed a tiny amount, a bit embarrassed at the thought of running around town as a bunny.

"How many other animals can you be, Everfree?" Dinky asked from below the woman in question's hand.

"I can be anything you can think of, little one, but I can't change how they look, if that makes sense."

"So you could be a pony if you wanted?" Derpy asked, thinking of the flawed logic of the spirit. If she could be anything, surely she could have just trotted here as a pony to not rouse any suspicion?

Knowing what the pegasus was thinking, Everfree decided it would be easier to show her, and quickly let the white mist envelop her again.

Suddenly, there was a huge glowing white Alicorn in the room. Derpy hadn't ever been too close to Princess Celestia before, but she could tell that the one in front of her was larger than her by a large margin. Like all the other forms Everfree had taken that wasn't her bipedal one, it looked like a ghost, with a see-through mane, and huge wings which ended without a clear boundary - instead little pieces of flowing fog that drifted into the air around her. Odd glowing orange eyes which gave off an almost eerie light.

The Alicorn didn't speak, instead cocking her head in a 'Do you know what I mean?' expression. Derpy made an expression of acknowledgement, smirking at the absurdity of the sight in front of her. Everfree could barely fit in the room in this form, her horn atop her head grazing the ceiling to the point where her neck was craned down.

Swiftly, Everfree returned to her original form, rubbing her neck a bit to ease the slight knot that had formed in the uncomfortable position. "I figure that would probably get the most attention of them all."

Dinky was silent for this entire ordeal, staring up at the woman with amazement and glee. She suddenly burst back into life, exclaiming how awesome she was.

"Like I said, I can't choose what the form I pick looks like, I can only choose to be it, and a pony chooses a very... extravagant form. If I put more effort into it I can appear less ghostly, even speak, but it makes me very tired." While saying this, she leaned down to pick up the excited filly at her feet, holding her to her chest.

Aware of the time, Derpy realised she should be setting off, she reached up to kiss Dinky on the forehead and told her again to be good, and gave a stern message to Everfree.

"You be good too, make some friends while you're here." The woman nodded back, surprised by the sudden order. Shortly after, the pegasus left, leaving the filly and the spirit alone.

The sun hadn't been lowered just yet, and Everfree had the sneaking suspicion that Derpy had left earlier than needed to force the woman to be in town longer. Not that she was upset, but she was wondering how exactly she could go out and make friends without a) scaring them off, or b) not being able to talk to them.

A problem for later, she decided, as the excited filly started to climb her head and shoulders, perching atop her head. As the trio grew closer, Everfree started leaving her wooden mask behind in the grove for their meetups, this time being no exception. It made her feel safe, a sort of suit of armour. Not that she needed one with her powers, but it felt nice to feel protected.

As she took in the sights of the Hooves' household, she noticed many drawings on their fridge, hung up by different muffin-shaped magnets. Peering closer, she saw how many of them were little doodles of herself with the mare and filly, with a few of them being her wearing that spiralling horned mask. Pointing towards one of them, she asked Dinky, "Who's this beautiful woman here? She looks pretty stunning."

"That's you, silly! And next to you is me and mum!" Dinky responded from atop Everfree's head, giggling as the woman raised a hand to her mouth and gasped.

"That's me?! You have a real talent here Dinky, keep this up and I'll have to keep a couple for myself." Lightbulb, "Hey, how about me and you draw together for a little bit?"

Dinky gasped at what she thought was the best idea she had ever heard, and as she was placed on the ground, she galloped towards the kitchen table, bringing forth some paper and coloured pencils.

The two continued to joke with each other as they drew pictures together. Dinky drawing a beautiful picnic with two ponies, a larger one with wings, and a smaller one with a horn sprouting from its head, and a tall creature sitting next to them with a cup of tea in their hands. All three had big smiles on their faces.

Everfree doodled Dinky, trying to impress her with some long-forgotten artistic skills, and while it didn't come out perfect (there wasn't any pencil the right shade of purple to match her coat), it was pretty spot-on, and the unicorn hugged the piece of paper, immediately pinning it to the refrigerator like her mum had done to her drawings so many times.

"You can keep this drawing Everfree, so you can think of us every time you're at home!" Not that the woman needed an object to be thinking of them, she already constantly thought of her friends, she graciously accepted and left it on the table as she didn't want to crease the paper in a pocket.

Aware of all the opportunities that now presented themselves, Dinky could barely think of an order to do them all. "Do you want to see my room?" she asked, in that childish glee that they get when they're about to show off. Everfree accepted, and followed the pony upstairs, having to bend her neck and back at the odd angle of the stairs which didn't quite accommodate her height.

The small unicorn's room was head to toe in charm and character, toys littered the floor, plush toys on her bed of the two Princesses that looked well-loved, and one that looked quite a lot newer, a plush cuddly deer. Everfree could only smile at the sight. There were even more drawings in this room, of ponies that the woman didn't recognise, but assumed were Dinky's schoolmates.

Atop a windowsill, there was a potted plant, it looked a bit worse for wear, and when questioned on it, Dinky had said, "I keep watering it but it doesn't seem to like me very much." Her cheeks puffed up as she looked down, upset at the dying plant.

"Ah, this plant is a succulent, little one. You don't need to water them very often, just give them lots of sunshine and love, and they'll grow on their own! You'll know when they're getting thirsty." Everfree raised her hands around the succulent, cupping it slightly as she moved her mouth close to it, and whispered something inaudible. As she backed away with a smile, the plant grew a lot greener, with a small flower sprouting from atop its head.

Wide-eyed in amazement, Dinky fawned over the plant, admiring its purple petals and green leaves. Everfree smiled at the sight. The filly turned to the woman, "How are you so good with plants Everfree? Even Earth ponies aren't this amazing with them!"

"I... I don't really know Dinky. I've always been good with them from what I can remember." A bit dejected without having a proper answer, Dinky soon let the matter drop as her childlike mind changed the topic for her. Staring out the window, she could see the park a little ways away and asked if they could go to play on the swings and slide.

Knowing that sooner or later, Everfree would be asked to leave the house, she took a moment to consider her options. Yes, she could leave the house like this, but risk ponies causing a stampede in fear, or even worse, thinking Dinky is in danger of the monster that's following her. She could also morph into a smaller creature, and follow the filly around, ensuring she's safe as she stays nearby.

Suddenly, an idea popped into the woman's head. Sure, she couldn't become a pony, but there were other creatures here, and without the size of a full-blown Alicorn, it would require far less energy to become one less incorporeal, and able to speak.

Finally, Everfree agreed, and Dinky as ran out to get her saddlebags (which were adorably decorated with some character from a book series the filly must enjoy), the woman ran through options in her head. A griffin was too large, a minotaur might be too intimidating, and a donkey was a good option but she didn't quite feel like doing that. Finally remembering a fellow resident of the forest, she found a good option.

As the pair went downstairs, Everfree ensured Dinky hadn't forgotten anything, and in a cloud of fog, the woman began to shift. She channelled forth some extra energy to ensure she looked alive and was able to properly speak. She would feel the strain of it later tonight for sure, but in this moment, it was the farthest thing from her mind.

Dinky watched in giddy delight, she always loved watching the woman shift, the magical fog that appeared and disappeared in moments, and while she had only ever seen her become a deer or go back to her original form before this day, it was awesome seeing how the clouds changed in size depending on what was happening.

As the white mist blew away in an unheard wind, what was left in its wake was a tall striped zebra. Its mane was tied back in a tail, and like the original form, was an almost midnight black, with strands of white running through it. On her flanks was a symbol of a tree, its upper branches curved downwards, almost touching the roots, which had curved upwards.

"Does-" the zebra coughed, "Is this working?" She rubbed her throat with a hoof, not quite used to the sensation of talking in a quadruped form.

"This is so awesome! We should go show Zecora!" Dinky bounced up and down, clearly excited at the new thoughts and plans racing through her head.

"Not today, little one, and Zecora and I have already met before, though, we didn't really speak. From what I remember she just kind of stared at me when I accidentally walked past her home." Everfree admitted, embarrassed by the memory. She was out looking for a certain type of flower in the Everfree, to try and cure it from a curse which had been placed on it long ago and encountered the zebra as she was outside her home. She must've been pretty petrified of the sight of this tall biped wearing its horned mask and long dress wandering nearby.

She thought that she ought to stop by one of these days and properly introduce herself.

"But let's get going to the park, the sun's still shining for a little bit longer, and afterwards we can get some dinner! Your mum left has some bits to go and enjoy ourselves." Thankful for the pegasus' foresight, Everfree never had much use for bits, and as such, didn't have a single one to her name.

The pair set off, heading to the park. Dinky bounced along instead of trotting, while Everfree watched with a smile. She noticed some ponies staring at her and cursed to herself for not remembering zebras aren't all that common around here. Though they continued nonetheless, Everfree even waved a hoof to a handful of ponies which stared for a touch too long.

She also soon realised that she stood taller than the majority of the residents of Ponyville, even the stallions. Realising that maybe all the stares weren't only due to her being an oddity, but due to her build and looks, and blushed slightly at the thought. She shook her head and started asking Dinky about how school was, and what they were learning.

"We're learning math!" the unicorn cheerily stated.

"You mean maths, with an s." Everfree corrected, realising that it didn't really matter as soon as the words left her mouth.

"No, just math! We're doing times tables."

"Oh, I used to hate those! I'm still bad at my seven times tables." The zebra stated, thinking back on a long lost time when she was still learning in classes.

"I can't do my nines..." Dinky responded, thinking back on the number of times it had been explained to her but she still couldn't grasp it.

"Well, I have a trick for those, can you do your ten times tables?" Dinky nodded, "Well then nines can be just as easy, do ten times, and then take the number away. So for example, ten times six would be sixty, take away six is..." she motioned to the filly to answer.

"Fifty-four?" the small unicorn responded after a moment of pondering.

Everfree smiled, "Exactly! so six times nine is fifty-four!" Dinky made an expression on her face as if suddenly an entire pool of knowledge opened up. The zebra could only giggle to herself as Dinky started doing math questions on their walk.

As they approached the park, Everfree took notice of a handful of other colts and fillies there, and the older ponies either playing with them or watching from the sidelines. One in particular stood out, having seen her in the forest many times before. Like the woman, this pony had a link to the forest.

It was an orange pony with a blonde mane, decorated on top with a stetson hat. Three apples shined on her flank. This was an Element of Harmony. The pony's name escaped the zebra, who tried scouring her mind to remember it.

As they entered the park's gate, Dinky galloped off, seeing a friend from school, a small yellow filly with a red mane, with a type of shield as her cutie mark. She too had been in the forest multiple times, and while Everfree never had to intervene, she always kept a watchful eye from atop the trees as a bird to ensure she would never get in too much trouble.

Everfree sat down on a bench, rubbing her temples with her hooves to try and ward off the beginning of a headache that was almost certainly due to the use of her powers earlier. Realising her current appendages weren't quite as effective as her fingers, she gave up and watched Dinky play with some friends.

While distracted, she didn't notice the stetson-wearing pony approach from the side.

"Howdy Miss! Ah ain't seen you around these parts before." A thick Western accent came from her lips, bringing back memories of old cowboy movies. Trying to withhold her expression of surprise at the sudden shock of her appearing next to her, Everfree turned to look at her.

"Hello, I, uhh," searching her mind for the right words, "I'm from the forest, quite deep though so I never usually come out. I'm just here looking after Dinky while her mum is away for the night."

"Foal-sittin', eh? Well, welcome to Ponyville, Ah'm Applejack, if you need anything you just let me know, ahright?" Everfree thanked her and turned back towards the foals, who were now playing pirates.

The pony, Applejack, shifted uncomfortably for a moment, and finally mustered up, "Hey, Ah don't recognise you, do ah? You feel mighty familiar."

The zebra panicked internally, she didn't want her cover blown so early, so with a lie, she responded, "No, I don't think so, maybe you've met my cousin, Zecora? I'm-" Uh oh, now she had to make up a name, "I'm Winters."

Applejack looked puzzled, certain that she knew she wasn't thinking of Zecora. This zebra in front of her just felt familiar, like they had met many times before. It was an uncanny feeling because she just couldn't place it. She didn't have the same accent, nor the same rhyming speech pattern as her 'cousin' either. Not wanting to push the matter and scare her off, she dropped the matter.

They continued in an awkward silence as they watched the kids play, who had gone from playing pirates to superheroes. Everfree/Winters watched intently, having been unable to be so close to lively foals like this in a group since before this town had even existed. They were galloping and jumping around, shouting superpowers they had. A painful twang shot through the zebra's head, a mix of the ever-growing headache, and some painful memories.

The collection of ponies began to grow thin, leaving to head home for the day as the sky started to shift colours. Planted on the bench, sitting with her legs tucked underneath her, Everfree managed to tame the pounding in her head, and it began just a dull sensation - one that would hopefully go away after some food and a nap.

Applejack, who had collected her younger sister, Applebloom, turned to wave to the zebra and Dinky, and as they both returned the gesture, the farmer noticed how much the grass had grown beneath the bench, almost quadrupling in length. She gave it an odd look and left to return to her farm, filly in tow.

Dinky and Everfree said their goodbyes to the remaining foals in the park, and some of the older ponies that either the small pegasus recognised, or that had spoken to the zebra during their time there. Dinky regaled all of the adventures she had been on during her time playing, even though her audience had been less than a couple metres away at all times - which made no difference as the adult gave her her full attention.

They meandered through Ponyville, not having a clear destination in mind, except for finding a place to eat. The pegasus pointed out different buildings and acted as a tour guide, informing Everfree of different shops, or houses which inhabited her friends. Eventually, Dinky showed off a small restaurant and stated that the Princess likes to eat there sometimes.

'The Princess?' the zebra thought, taking a large and sudden interest in this building. "Should we eat here?" Dinky nodded, and the two entered and waited to be sat. They didn't wait too long, and within a few minutes, they had already found a place to sit and had drinks on the table - a soda for the filly and a glass of water for the zebra.

Everfree scanned the crowd, meeting eyes with a handful who were staring, but ignoring them, until she saw what she had been looking for. A purple Alicorn was sitting in a corner, head deep in a scroll, with a small dragon sitting next to her. While the pony was preoccupied, the reptile was not and was caught looking straight at Everfree. Blushing due to being seen, the dragon looked away and whispered something to the Alicorn.

"Hey Dinky, those two over there, is that the Princess?" Everfree asked after taking a sip from her water with a straw. the small pegasus looked up from her crayon masterpiece - something the zebra had requested when she had seen some drawing paper and utensils by the restaurant host's stand. Dinky nodded, looking over at the pair.

"Yep! That's Princess Twilight and Spike!" the filly offered a wave to the two, who were now both staring in her direction. Everfree waved as well, feeling her headache start to come back. The noise here wasn't doing her any favours, and something about the magic in this room was certainly making it worse. It wasn't as painful as earlier, but it began to feel more uncomfortable than it hurt.

The rest of the dinner remained uneventful, the two chatted about various things while eating their meals. A salad for the zebra, and a burger for the pony. They laughed as Dinky pointed out some ceasar sauce which was splotched all over Everfree's muzzle, who made a silly face trying to see it.

After their main courses, Dinky had gotten a chocolate sundae, and Everfree treated herself to a slice of cake. They both silently chowed down, enjoying their desserts.

Once they had finished they paid the waiter, and left a substantial tip - Everfree, not quite knowing what a good amount to give was, just gave them everything she had left in the amount Derpy had left. The zebra just nodded when questioned about the amount given - and the waiter left their table with a huge smile on their face.

The pair stayed seated for a while, finishing their drinks and talking about what to do that evening. Everfree's ear twitched and jumped a little at the sudden presence of a purple Alicorn standing next to them. "Hello, I don't think we've met. I'm-"

"Twilight!" Dinky exclaimed, scuttling out of her seat to hug the Princess. She returned the embrace with a foreleg, smiling down at the small unicorn, and then shifting her gaze back onto the zebra.

Twilight Sparkle, the Element of Magic. Everfree knew lots about her but hadn't ever properly met them. Wanting to keep a respectable distance away, her magic was jarring to be in the presence of - it just felt too familiar. Memories of the Princesses as foals practising their own magic flashed through her mind.

Recalling the lies she had already stated, and hoping Dinky wouldn't notice- or at the very least, not speak up about, Everfree responded. "I'm Winters. It's nice to meet you, Princess." She bowed her head slightly and lifted an eyebrow as Twilight recoiled a bit, clearly not used to, or just disliking, the gesture. Collecting herself, the Alicorn opened her mouth to ask a question, but the same expression that Applejack had earlier planted itself on her face.

Twilight peered closer at Everfree/Winters, trying to suss out what this odd feeling coming over her was. This zebra was emitting a bizarre energy type. It didn't feel like pony magic, and from all she knew, zebras didn't have their own form of it. No, this magic felt... ancient. Primal. Dinky departed the hug and turned to talk to Spike the dragon, who, again, was staring up at the zebra with wide eyes. A blush crossed his face when he was knocked out of his trance.

Everfree felt like a piece of meat in front of these two. She didn't quite appreciate the personal bubble being encroached on by this mare. She cleared her throat and stared into the pony's eyes, whose own widened in the realisation of how close she had gotten in her scans.

I-I'm sorry, it's just, have we met?"

Again, that question. Everfree knew why they were asking this, they had been inside of her forest many times, and certain parts of it were more touched by her magic than others. That old castle, a spot the spirit visited on her off days, must have radiated her energy. The Elements of Harmony had gone there several times throughout their various adventures.

Everfree was hoping that seeing and meeting this Princess would remind her of the two fillies she once called friends, but instead, all it did was bring up some sour memories. "No, I don't believe we have, but we must be going, it's getting dark. Come along, little one." She pushed herself off the chair and reached a hoof towards Dinky.

"But, Miss Everfree..." the filly whined, clearly wanting to talk to Spike for a bit longer.

"Come along."

Twilight watched as the pair left, knowing she had upset the zebra, she tried to apologise, but they had left before she could speak up. Feeling a bit blue, she turned to Spike, about to head home herself. Spike brought a claw to his chin, and stated aloud, "That Everfree sure is a character."

"Huh? Say that again Spike?" Twilight's ears raised to attention.

"That 'Miss Everfree', she seemed a bit grouchy."

'Miss Everfree? I thought she said her name was Winters? Could it just be her last name?' Twilight lost herself in thought. 'That zebra, I have met her before, somehow. Though all I can think is... is... in the Everfree Forest.'

"Spike, let's get back, I need you to help me send a message to the Princesses."

Everfree's head was tight, it kept fluctuating from a dull ache to a full-blown migraine, and being so close to the horn of that Princess had made it severely worse. She was short with Dinky earlier, and she would have to make up for it once they had returned to the Hooves' household.

Their trot back was silent, Dinky grew tired, filled with food and having used up all her energy earlier in the day. The zebra was instead lost in her mind, trying to think of ways to alleviate her current predicament. She didn't make any friends today, as was ordered by Derpy, it felt more like she had done the opposite.

Once they got back home, Dinky yawned, and sat down on the couch, and Everfree, who was growing more tired by the second, sighed heavily as she joined her. Reflecting the spirit's state, the wispy cloud very slowly grew around the zebra, and the transformation took a tad longer than it had in the past.

Finally, back in her own skin, Everfree stretched, hearing her joints pop, and began to massage her temples with her now returned fingers. Dinky stared up at her, recognising that something didn't feel quite right. Her mother had come home sometimes looking a similar way, and when asked, she was always told to not worry, and that Derpy was okay.

Not wanting to be shut down, she instead chose a different method, and opened her mouth to ask, "Miss Everfree, I know you can become any animal, so what's the one you are now?" The woman in question blinked, realising she had forgotten to ever say.

"While I can become anything, little one, this isn't a form I choose. This is just... me." Everfree flared her arms a bit, expressing her hands in a way to show her body off. "I'm a Human."

"Are there any other Human around?"

"Humans, dear," She put added weight onto the 's' sound, "and, from what I know, no. I'm the only one around." Everfree stated, before thinking to herself, 'Though, I don't know if I even qualify as a person anymore. Maybe I just say I'm a fey next time.'

Dinky continued to look up at the human, her golden eyes staring into those green pools. "That sounds sad, Miss Everfree"

Collecting herself, and realising the sombre feeling the night had directed itself, the woman laughed and brought a hand to the filly's head to ruffle up her mane. "No, it's not bad, I have you and your mother to keep me company!" Dinky laughed, trying to remove the hand from atop her head, and stopping as it moved to scratch behind her ear. Losing herself in the delightful feeling, she didn't notice Everfree's smile drop slightly, and her eyes glistening with tears.

It was late. The day had been long and very exhausting for the woman. She didn't remember how draining it was to care for a child, not even to mention the strain of social interaction with strangers. Everfree sighed quietly to herself, she was currently tucking Dinky into bed, who was fighting off sleep to have more moments with her sitter.

"Thank you for today, Miss Everfree," Dinky yawned out, cuddling her deer plushie, as her blanket was tucked underneath her. The woman smiled, sitting on the edge of the bed as the pony kept almost drifting, but shaking her head to stay awake. "Do you," she yawned, "know any songs? Mummy sings to me sometimes before bed."

Everfree searched her mind for a moment, remembering one that she used to sing. She opened her mouth and with a voice as delicate as a flower petal, she sang.

"Ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh
Ooh-ooh-ooh

Somewhere over the rainbow
Way up high
And the dreams that you dream of
Once in a lullaby, oh"

Dinky had drifted off to the serenading lullaby, a smile left on her face as she began to quietly snore. Everfree lowered her head to the pony's forehead, gave it a kiss, and at a much lower volume, continued to sing as she left the room.

"Somewhere over the rainbow
Bluebirds fly
And the dreams that you dream of
Dreams really do come true-ooh-ooh
Someday I'll wish upon a star
Wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where trouble melts like lemon drops
High above the chimney tops that's where
You'll find me, oh"

"Where did you learn that song Everfree?" the white Alicorn filly said, her pink mane tied back in a ponytail - courtesy of the person in question. Her younger sister, a dark blue pony, simply stared up with wide eyes at the soothing voice.

"Well, young one, my father used to sing it to me. Oh, you girls would have loved him. In the summer evenings, he would bring out a ukelele, and strum out the tune and sing to me and my mother over a campfire."

"Whats a ukielaylay?" The smaller of the pair asked, her blue eyes sparkling like that of the night sky.

Everfree giggled, running her hand through the pony's blue mane. "A ukelele, Luna. It's like a small guitar, kind of. It's a magnificent instrument. I'll try making one, and show you girls what you're missing out on." The woman looked to the dark sky above, gazing upon the twinkling stars. "Alright, come along girls, Starswirl has more magic lessons for you tomorrow, and you should be getting to bed."

The fillies groaned, not wanting to go to sleep just yet. "But Miss Everfree, we want to learn magic from you!" whined the white Alicorn.

"I wish I could, Tia, but our magic is different, the way we do it is very different, I would be a poor teacher."

Everfree awoke with a start, she had fallen asleep on the couch after placing Dinky to bed and was dreaming of some fond memories. She ran a hand through her hair and wiped away the sleep gathered in the corners of her eyes.

Her headache was long gone, as she had thought, a drink and some sleep did clear it up. She hadn't used her powers like that in some time, becoming an ethereal spirit was child's play to her, but forcing the energy to make her a corporeal being capable of speech? It wore her right out.

She stood up to get herself a glass of water, and as she filled it, she splashed her face with some of the cold water. 'You're getting old, woman' she thought to herself. 'Yeah, understatement of my life.' She sighed, her shoulders falling as she drank.

How old was she now? She could hardly remember, a lot of the years blurring together - especially those she spent in those woods, which were a significant amount in the last millennia. She saw her reflection in the window, taking in the sight of the spirit looking back at her. She had stopped ageing physically when she had turned twenty-five, explaining to herself that it had something to do with when cells start dying off faster than they grow. She assumed that anyway, not sure if that fact was even true.

Her midnight black hair was long, reaching just below the middle of her back, with white streaks running through and fading in places. Her tattoos hadn't faded, some done professionally back when she was home, others with her artistic prowess and a stick and poke.

Her light brown skin was sprinkled with freckles, a result of exposure to the sun earlier in the week. She didn't look old, she didn't even look bad, but she felt old, and she felt bad. Similar to the Castle of the Twin Sisters, Everfree stood as a relic, albeit a living and breathing one. Her appearance was stuck in time like a mosquito trapped in amber.

Derpy arrived home early in the morning on Saturday, looking refreshed and relaxed. She hugged her daughter and Everfree and asked them about the day prior. Dinky went on about all the different things they had done, drawing together, and going to the park. Smiling, the pegasus turned to Everfree, who had been silent for the whole speech, and her expression dropped a tad.

The woman looked tired, and not in the way one gets tired after looking after a foal as lively as Dinky. No, she looked emotionally exhausted. Electing not to bring up the order she had given her about making some friends, she thanked her again and relieved her of her duty.

The woman took the photo Dinky had drawn of the trio off the table, holding it carefully in her hands. She dropped to one knee to hug the filly tight and said it was very fun to hang out with her, she gestured for Derpy to come over, and gave her the same.

And like that, she had left, leaving the two ponies together. Dinky continued to chatter about how fun it yesterday and been and how awesome the woman was, but Derpy could only think about her friend. Something felt wrong, and as she continued to think about the spirit, her daughter said,

"Muuum, you're eyes are crossing again, you're thinking too hard!

Princess Celestia and Princess Luna had received a scroll from Twilight late last night, and while Luna was awake to receive it, she deemed it necessary to wake her sister up after reading the first few lines.

"Sister, this zebra Twilight speaks of, do you think it could be her?" Luna asked, looking at her sister's face, which was deep in concentration on the words of the letter.

"I... can't say for certain, Luna. It sounds like her, but we haven't heard from her since-" Celestia cut herself off, looking down at Luna's face in shame.

"Since Nightmare Moon." finished the dark blue Alicorn. The two shared a sombre moment, each remembering those tragic days of the past. After some minutes had passed, Luna spoke up again, "Is it worth visiting her? If she's around our little ponies again, maybe she's willing to talk?"

Celestia thoughtfully stared into her sister's eyes. The last time the Princess spoke with the woodland spirit, it resulted in them both leaving the situation more upset than when they had started it. "It's been a thousand years, Luna. Who knows what she'll say?"

"We won't know unless we find out."

They shared another look, and with a determined nod, levitated over a blank scroll and quill.

Bits and Pieces

Everfree sat atop a mossy boulder in her grove, holding her knees to her chest as she gave herself a tight embrace. Like a statue atop its pedestal, she was unmoving, roots were beginning to creep their way up the rock, and onto her, growing unnaturally fast. Even when they made contact, the woodland spirit did not budge, allowing the sensation of another being to touch her, even if it lacked the warmth of a breathing creature.

The days between her seeing her friends were always difficult. Before having met the mother and daughter, she would occupy her days cleansing parts of the forest, or tending to small areas to bring them back to their old glory, but lately, it just felt worthless. The Forest was fighting back with such intensity and ferocity, and the groves that were healed would soon succumb to the ever-persistent shadow which loomed above.

Instead of wasting her time, she simply sat, waiting for the days to pass by. Photosynthesizing in the rays of sunlight which beamed down from the heavens above. Not that she could survive off only the radiation of the sun, she would need to eat at some point, but like many things, Everfree had lost the drive to act on her pangs of hunger until it became more dire.

To put it simply, Everfree was depressed. She was losing touch with her surroundings as she continued to sit atop her sediment throne. Her visit to Ponyville had made her realise she wasn't made for social interaction with the normal populace. Rescued ponies she could handle, they eased into talking with her, not knowing who or what she was. For all they knew she was just a protective spirit in the woods, a ghost.

Little did they know that she essentially was one. Haunting her residence, making the Forest one big haunted house. She took breaths, she ate, she drank, she even smiled, but there was an ever-growing hole inside of her, which never seemed to fill.

And so, Everfree waited atop her boulder, and the roots continued their climb uninterrupted. Halting their persistent march when they reached the top half of her arms. Instead of flowers or leaves beginning to sprout, thorns began to erupt outwards, like a protective spiky shield from the outside world.

Twilight Sparkle had received a letter from Canterlot, with a wax seal indicating that it was from both of the Princesses. She was surprised her last letter warranted the attention of both sisters but wasted no time in opening it. She blinked and reread passages, trying to ensure that these words were saying what was written. By the time she was done, she must've bored holes through the scroll with how intensely she scanned it.

Both Princesses were coming to Ponyville, and while ensuring there was no danger, asked the Elements of Harmony to keep themselves on standby for when the two would enter the Everfree Forest - alone. No royal guards, no Twilight, just the two sisters.

That zebra, she knew something was off about her, and the Princesses had seen it as a big enough issue to confront them themselves. Her mind raced as she thought of all the possibilities, maybe she was an ancient villain from before Twilight was born, maybe she was a new threat which was to be nipped in the bud immediately.

She sent messages to her friends to come round to her castle/library, wanting to inform them of what was happening - and to be ready for anything.

Celestia and Luna had informed the castle that duties would be put on hold for a couple of days while they dealt with a political issue in the Badlands - a white lie to ensure that ponies wouldn't be coming to summits to try to talk about issues, only to enter an empty throne room.

It wasn't smart to leave the castle without at least one of them to handle things, but with a matter such as this, they decided it wasn't fair to send just one of them to meet their old carer. The two had known their parents, but they had passed very early in their lives, and the woodland spirit had essentially raised them in their absence. They knew Everfree would never call what she did 'parenting', but in all honesty, it's what it was.

They had taught the sisters how to fly, had gone on adventures with them, and had fights with Starswirl when his lessons were too straining on the young fillies. They could both remember the yelling matches they would have and how fierce and angry the spirit's voice would become when she would meet her wit's end with the stubborn unicorn. Her yelling would shake the very foundations of the Earth, and it's a miracle the stallion survived into his old age.

She never yelled in front of the sisters though, she would drag Starswirl by his mane or tail into a separate room or area of the forest, and then begin to dig into him. It was just an unfortunate side-effect that even out of sight, her voice could be heard from all over. And after it was done, she would return to the fillies with a smile on her face, and her hair only slightly razzled.

There were also the times that she would choose to live in her pony form, a magnificent large Alicorn, a pale green coat, and a pastel purple mane which flowed in an ethereal wind. She couldn't use pony magic, but her own still worked perfectly fine, appearing as if it would come from her horn as she willed the earth to her own will. While Starswirl would have taken the credit for it, the two sisters knew that without Everfree's advice, they would have never been able to tame the celestial bodies after they had begun to malfunction in the sky.

The two ruler's minds were swimming with distant memories and interrupting thoughts, what would the spirit say to them after all this time? The last time they had both spoken with her, they were both without the other. Luna had confronted the spirit as her mind turned dark, trying to find some reason for her accursed thoughts. Celestia had visited the grove shortly after banishing her sister to the moon, wanting some familiar comfort and redemption for her actions - and she had received neither.

Everfree had barely been able to look at the older sister, and when she did, her eyes were red and puffy. Celestia had tried to hug her but reared back in horror as the spirit took a step back from the pony and her eyes went from sorrow to a very deep anger. She wouldn't forget the words she received that day, no, she figured she'd remember them for the rest of her life.

'It's been a thousand years, who knows what she'll think of us now?' The sun ruler thought. Being back at her sister's side calmed her turbulent inner speech, 'We're together again, that's what matters.'

Around midday, the Princesses arrived at Ponyville.

The two had gone straight to Twilight's castle, to not draw a crowd or raise any suspicions. There they met up with six collected ponies and began to inform them of what was happening. "Deep in the Everfree Forest, there are tales of a guardian of the woods. They've been written about in children's stories, as a protector of the lost, leading them to safety. These stories are true."

Twilight, as one would expect, was writing all this information down, raising her head to ask, "The zebra, Everfree Winters, she's connected to them?" Applejack raised an eyebrow, never having heard the first name.

"She did give off a crazy feeling, I knew the mare wasn't tellin' me everything." The farmer said, tilting her stetson back with a hoof. She and Twilight had discussed their meetings with the zebra to each other, trying to connect any dots - or at the very least, try and find the dots which wouldn't.

Luna nodded, taking over from her sister. "The zebra is not just connected to them, we suspect she is them. She has the power to shift, and from what we can tell, she appeared as a zebra to not raise any alarms in Ponyville with her normal body. It's one not commonly seen. In fact, we suspect she is the only one of her kind."

Celestia and Luna had never known for absolute certain that the spirit was the only human, but they had never found any evidence for the contrary. The two had gone on an adventure with the woman in the past, to try and discover more like her, and ended up with empty hooves.

"Why would she show up now, Princess?" Applejack asked, turning towards the two after peeking at some of the notes Twilight had been scribbling down. Celestia spoke this time,

"Twilight had written to us about how she seemed to be in care for a foal, a Dinky Hooves. The spirit has always been protective of the young, and we imagine that the Hooves family has become close to her." Celestia informed the group, taking note of the reactions of the less vocal.

Pinkie Pie was, as always, bubbling with excitement. A possible new friend, a new party to plan, and more treats to bake. Rarity was silent, rubbing her chin with a hoof, imagining if her younger sister had ever met this creature. Rainbow Dash was uncharacteristically quiet, simply staring at the others. Fluttershy was hiding behind her mane, trying to recall if any of her animals had ever spoken of the spirit.

"We will be going into the forest, to try and find its guardian. Many years ago, we were once close to her, and we hope to try and reestablish this bond. While we are away, we ask that whoever of you is closest to the Hooves' family try and find out any further information about their time with the zebra."

Responding to Luna's words, Twilight and Rainbow Dash perked up. The purple pony had given magic lessons to Dinky before, as she was sometimes requested to make an appearance in the schoolhouse to help out, while the blue pegasus had worked with Derpy various times, and was an old classmate.

Celestia finished off, "Good, we will not be gone too long, my little ponies. We shall aim to be back shortly after nightfall. If we have not returned by tomorrow morning, we ask that you come and find us. I will write a letter to you, Twilight, once we have met with her."

"Are you sure you're not in any danger, Princess? I dread to think would may happen if you two are in any trouble." Rarity questioned, the two Princesses looked upon her with a calming gaze. They shook their heads as Luna responded.

"We see no risk in this trip Miss Rarity, we are only wary that we may be caught up in our discussions and lose track of time."

The group split up, and the two Princesses headed towards the Everfree forest, while the others planned on how best to approach the topic with the family involved.

Once inside its borders, the two Alicorns anxiously looked around, and the younger of the two asked, "Do you still remember the old ritual, sister?"

"I'll never forget it, Luna."

The two looked to the sky, as the wind flowed through the leaves above them, the air was warm, and the smell of flowers drifted past. Springtime always brought a plethora of warm and pleasant feelings, and they each sang a familiar melody, hoping it would be carried to their old guardian.

Everfree finally shifted from her seat. the vines falling from her as she looked up to the tree canopy. Someone was calling, but she sensed no danger, only an anxious tone to the words. She recognised the voices immediately, a little older perhaps, but they were her girls.

She did not respond, trying to shake off her own feelings as she got up to walk to her stone desk. An aged mirror was resting against a large willow tree which stood behind the table. Looking at her face, she groaned as she saw how her hair had become tangled and frizzed in all different directions. Her eyes had large dark bags below them, and her skin was dry.

Figuring the two who had called for her could afford to wait, she sat herself down on a homemade wooden chair in front of the mirror and table. She brushed her hair with a comb which had been a gift from a rescued foal many years ago. It was made from a chiselled from a piece of dead wood, and had a small 'thank you' engrained on its surface above the teeth.

As she tried to tame her hair, she looked at the edges of the mirror. Pinned to the sides were various pieces of paper, all decorated with children's drawings, a foal with a ghostly deer, or masked biped. The newest addition was the drawing Dinky had done while in Everfree's ward, of the mother and daughter enjoying a picnic with the human, drinking from a mug.

The oldest piece, however, crinkled and brown from its many years, was of three ponies, Two Alicorns, one with a pink mane, and another with a dark blue coat and a lighter mane. The third was wearing a wizard's hat and cloak. It was evident less effort was put into his sketch.

Next to the trio was a drawing of Everfree, with long black hair which was exaggerated to fall just below her knees, a large smile drawn on her face, with her eyes both being little spirals. The woman touched the paper, hands drifting over those ancient inscriptions. She sighed as a bird landed nearby, and tweeted to her. The two interlopers were drifting further into the forest, not quite knowing their destination.

Everfree equipped her mask and put on a tight chest piece made from plant fibre, some roots forming an x shape across her chest and stomach. Branches stuck out at irregular angles, giving off the impression of multiple limbs - and with the wearer's powers, they essentially were. Her trousers ended in ripped fabric, leaving her ankles and feet bare.

This garb wasn't one she usually put on, only for times when she may be in danger. Not from the Alicorn sisters, but from any wild creatures attracted to their strong magical presence. Most knew better than to try and attack the woman, but some young and foolishly brave ones may not recognise who the alpha of this land was.

She heard her call again, the younger of the two had tried summoning her, and Everfree could tell from the tone, she was a lot less sure of herself.

Again, she didn't respond but she left the safety of her grove to try and find them before something else did.

Luna and Celestia were lost. They knew of the existence of the protected hollow in the woods, but couldn't recall its exact whereabouts, and were left stumbling around in the dark underbrush. Their calls to Everfree had been fruitless, hearing nothing in return. They become growingly anxious about whether the mare spotted in Ponyville really was who they had thought - or that she simply did not want to see the pair.

Nevertheless, they continued deeper. At the very least, they could pay the old castle a visit, and see how it had been fairing in the chaotic weather of this forest. Both knew they would leave this area feeling substantially worse if the only thing they were able to achieve was some sightseeing.

"Sister, do you remember the songs Everfree used to play for us when we were young?" Luna asked.

"I do, Luna. She would make all those instruments from hoof, you know." responded the older sister, turning to Luna with a smile.

"From hand, Tia, not hoof." smugly retorted the younger Alicorn.

"Now you sound like her." Celestia sighed, her face falling to a smirk as she remembered all the times their teacher would softly correct them, or push the buttons of Starswirl by interrupting him and rectifying his statements.

The two trudged on. This area of the forest had shown signs of purifying magic, one they both recognised as Everfree's handiwork, but never could find a trail to follow. It was sparse, and it was evident the forest had been fighting back. Something had been wrong with the forest ever since they had both talked to its guardian last. A curse, some chaotic force, was placed on it - not by Discord's doing, but asking him about it wouldn't be a bad idea. Well, if they could put up with this pestering and jeering.

The noises of the forest were putting the two on edge, a branch cracking in the distance, or a bird suddenly taking flight above. Constantly whipping their heads around to try and spot whatever had made the disturbance, sighing slightly as they saw a rabbit or small fox run into the distance.

It had been two hours since they breached the forest. The castle wasn't too far off now, another 20-minute trek if they didn't get lost or sidetracked. Unbeknownst to the pair, they had a stalker in the underbrush. It had been silently following them for a while now, waiting for a perfect moment to strike.

A young manticore. From the looks of it, it had only been on its own for a handful of months. Its stomach growled as it pursued its prey, having not eaten in days. It gazed upon the pair with hungry eyes as they walked into an opening in the woods - a more suitable place to attack, it did not know.

The two ponies, radiating such immense amounts of magic, would keep the beast filled for a week, maybe two if it managed to saviour the meals. It pushed itself lower to the ground, waving its rear end higher, and just as the white one slowed down, it -

Be Afraid.

Suddenly, an entire group of voices yelled inside of its head. A deep booming dialect which felt more like bass than it did something conceivable, overlayed with a harsh whisper, that carried the weight of the whole world. The manticore whimpered, and the two ponies were suddenly aware of its presence.

The pair staring at him, both lowering their horns in preparation for an attack, combined with the voices of God assaulting its mind, made the manticore flee in terror. It sprinted off in the opposite direction, huffing and puffing as it felt the eyes of something following.

It paused once it was a respectable distance away, huffing as it tried to catch its breath. It froze as a figure approached from its side. Its arms were raised, and it lowered its body to the ground to make itself appear smaller. Its eyes were a pair of hypnotizing white spirals, and a wooden limb reached behind its back as it approached.

The manticore, still traumatised from what had just happened, backpedalled. Suddenly, the beast's mind was invaded by the voice again.

Shh, you're ok now. Those two aren't for you.

The masked being stared at the living myth that stood in front of her and watched as it tried to locate where the voices were coming from. Its eyes landed on the woman and suddenly took a swipe at her with one of its huge claws. 'Well,' she thought, jumping back, 'you know what they say about being backed into a corner.'

The manticore continued to swipe mindlessly, rearing up on its hind legs as one of the creature's wooded limbs brought forward something wrapped in cloth. Something that smelled delicious. It was slowly unwrapped, and once it was revealed, the biped stepped back.

It was a chunk of raw meat. Or, at the very least, something that looked and smelled like it. The fear left the beast immediately, its hungry stomach deciding to take over for its brain. It took a sniff of the meal in front of it and then started to eat.

Everfree smiled beneath her mask. The manticore didn't need to know it was a substitute piece of meat made from various plants. It was filled with the proteins it would need, by her design - it was something she would find herself eating ever since she became a vegetarian all those aeons ago.

Her work done, she turned around, mentally preparing herself for what was about to come.

The two Princesses had retreated to the abandoned castle nearby, suddenly aware of the threats they hadn't properly prepared for in these woods. They were both sat on the ancient stone flooring trying to catch their breath following their galloping to retreat from that scenario.

"Sister, something scared that manticore off, and it wasn't us," Luna said between deep gulps of air, eyeing the white Alicorn opposite, who had her eyes closed as her head was pointed to the ceiling. She nodded her head slightly in response to the words, though whether she had actually heard them or not, Luna didn't know.

Being the first to get back to her feet, Luna began to let her eyes wander around the castle's foyer. Shaking her head from uninvited memories of her return to the planet after the one thousand years she spent alone. Where once great stained glass windows filled the windows, there were now empty gaping holes to the outside world, ones which shrubs and creeping vines had used to invade the interior.

A majority of the plant life was a dull dark green, almost void of life, but there were spots where beautiful blooming flowers had taken root, evidence of another who had visited these halls. Luna felt a smile grow on her face as she took note of the colours, there were daffodils and nightshades. The two flowers their old teacher had grown for them both when they were younger.

Luna sat on her haunches to gaze upon them and smiled at her sister as she moved to her side to join her. They were silent, simply enjoying the moment of peace following the explosion of activity a little while ago.

Celestia began her own inspection of the castle, taking note of the cracks and signs of destruction from a battle between the pair, and in the corner of her eye, she saw her. In the doorway to the entrance, there was a figure silhouetted by the light outside, making her almost seem like a shadow. Two glowing spiral eyes atop a horned mask betrayed the sight, however.

Celestia poked her sister and nodded towards the biped as Luna turned to her quizzically. The older sister heard her gasp and saw little pinpricks of tears start to develop in her glistening eyes as she stared at the figure.

It was her, their friend, their old teacher, their pseudo-mother. Everfree, the Guardian of the Forest. She did not move from where she stood, but her head turned as she looked at the two ponies. Her shoulders slumped, and a hand, which was quivering ever so slightly, gripped the bottom of her mask and pulled it off.

"You girls have grown so much." A whisper so delicate it was almost drowned out by a gale of wind passing by outside. The Princesses stared at her face and saw that much like Luna, she too was crying.

The ponies picked themselves up off the floor and slowly started to approach. Everfree wanted to flee, to become a bird and fly as far away as she could. So much had happened, so much time had passed. The last time she saw the two of them, she was angry and bitter. She said things she regretted mere moments after they had left her mouth and never apologised for.

Were the two disappointed in her? To see what had become of the once-great woman, one who could shape mountains and move planets, now just a faded spirit. A woman too old for her own body, someone not worth the land she stood upon. A relic of times long past.

They were here to tell her not to go to Ponyville again. That ponies shouldn't be around her, she was too volatile, too wild. A danger to the children she sought to protect. It was the only thing that made sense, why else would they have come?

She gasped as the sisters were suddenly upon her, hugging her tight. Luna's tears were flowing now, little waterfalls falling from her snout, and Celestia was no better off. The pair sobbed into her chest, returning to their days of young fillies lost in the woods, who had been saved from a roaming Hydra by an alien creature wrapped in ripped clothing.

The ponies continued to cry, and so did Everfree, wrapping her arms around the two. They were together again, all sobbing into a huddled cuddle. The two sisters had found their mother, and they were a family once again.

A fire had been started in the castle, a little pit surrounded by some collected rubble from the collapsed walls. Celestia and Luna had lowered and raised their celestial bodies a short while ago, as Everfree watched with pride that filled the hole in her chest that threatened to swallow her whole in the morning.

Both ponies had grown since she had last seen them. Celestia was now at eye level, while Luna just about reached her chin - not including their horns. After their crying session, they had all calmed down, simply looking at each other with puffy red eyes and smiles plastered on their faces. Everfree had nodded towards the castle lobby, and the two ponies watched as she collected some dried wood and twigs for a fire.

They said nothing for a while, just giggling at the fact that they were all here, together again. Once the two completed their duties, Celestia finally spoke.

"I told my student that we would be back shortly after the sunset." The white alicorn looked at Luna and could tell she was thinking the same thing - that neither of them wanted to leave after having just reunited with Everfree. The woman chuckled behind a hand.

"I'm assuming that pony, Twilight? She seems like a real stickler for the rules." She put a finger to her chin, "You know, she reminds me of someone else." There was a mischievous glint in the human's eyes.

Luna laughed, "Don't get us started, she's a big fan of Starswirl. She dresses up as him every Nightmare Night." Everfree's eyes flashed with joy as she imagined the old grout having a fangirl. "She would go quite crazy if you mentioned you knew him, Miss Everfree."

The spirit raised an eyebrow, "Still Miss, huh?" Celestia giggled at the look her sister was receiving, who began to panic as she realised she might have misstepped. The woman had always had this effect on the two, she would pick out certain phrases they would say and delve into them and leave the two fillies as blubbering messes trying to explain themselves.

"I meant no disrespect!" Luna cried, looking at her sister with pleading eyes, who just responded with a shake of her head, allowing the sister to dig herself out of the hole. "Would you prefer I call you teacher? Ma'am? Mother?" The Princess stopped, knowing that she had just dug herself even deeper.

Celestia looked at Everfree, who had been smugly staring at Luna until her final words, where her smile dropped suddenly. The woman looked down, and flapped her mouth a few times like a fish, trying to find the right words to say. Luna was about to say even more but was silenced by a poke from Celestia.

"Is that how you see me? Still? After all this time... I..." Everfree took a deep breath, "I didn't think you would still think of me like that."

This time Luna was left speechless, and Celestia decided to speak for her. "Everfree, I know you never wanted us to call you that when we were young, but, you taught us so many things. More than just magic lessons, like Starswirl. You taught us how to fly, how to laugh again, you taught us we could still love. Our mother and father may be gone, but you're the closest thing we ever had to them, following their passing." She could feel her eyes threatening to erupt again, somehow still not drained of all the tears. "If anyone is deserving of the title, it would be you, if we are deserving to be yours."

Everfree stared at the ponies in front of her. They were adults, women. But at that moment, as they looked at her with pleading eyes over the fire, she was whisked away into an old memory.

There were three ponies surrounding a fire, all silent as they looked towards the human who was sitting on a fallen log opposite.

"I'm sorry, girls, I really don't know how much help I'll be. This man, err, stallion, he would be a lot more suited to help teach you things. I wouldn't know where to even begin."

A small dark blue Alicorn filly cried out, "But Miss Free! We want you! You're fun to play with, and you make us laugh!" The white filly next to her joined in,

"Please! Starswirl isn't any fun! Can't you just stay with us?"

Everfree looked at the three of them, Starswirl had harrumphed and turned his head away, but side-eyed the woman as he awaited her response. The two foals were crawling ever closer, hooves together, praying to the biped to stay with them.

She liked her forest, she liked her solitude, and she didn't expect to be roped into this bizarre trio after having only met them a couple of hours ago when she heard the two girls screaming. Would she be raising these ponies? She barely knew the stallion, but even she knew that he wouldn't be able to help them with other skills.

'Ugh, why can I never escape the babysitting job?' Everfree thought to herself, remembering an old life.

She groaned, running her hand down her face, looking down upon her crude wooden mask. She looked up at the group and opened her mouth to say -

"Okay, girls." Everfree fingered the wooden knots on her mask, scrubbing away some dirt which had fallen in. The two Princesses smiled and leaned closer. "I... I think that would be okay with me."

The woman looked at the two, remembering all their adventures, all their giggling fits at the jokes they made, or pranks they pulled on Starswirl. For a long time, she always imagined herself as an older sister. But, as they all grew up, she found herself feeling differently, which was further complicated by a young Luna choosing to call her 'mummy'.

The trio laughed as they reminisced over the fire, thinking of all the times Celestia had tried baking, not quite following the advice of Everfree, or the times Starswirl would walk in to find the two foals sleeping on the woman, who had a storybook in her hands.

Celestia suddenly gasped, "I forgot to send Twilight a letter!"

Luna and Everfree gave each other a look as they watched the mare sloppily scratch out a note in a quill she pulled from thin air, and set it ablaze with a green fire.

"The Elements of Harmony, I'm guessing you told them about me?" Everfree asked the younger sister, who was snuggled into her side, the human's arm wrapped around the pony.

"Only the very basics." She replied, smiling as her sister panted from her sudden explosion of activity. "What did you say to Twilight, sister?"

Celestia calmed herself down, and returned to her spot on the opposite side of Everfree, humming gently as a hand was placed behind her ears and began to scratch. "I told her we were safe and found who we were looking for."

"My last meeting with her didn't go too pleasantly, I wouldn't mind being able to apologise to her and the cowgirl," Everfree snapped her fingers, trying to remember their name. "Applejack! Apologise to Twilight and Applejack."

"What for?" Luna asked

"For being me, I guess," Everfree replied, her voice lowering. The two sisters leaned forward and gave each other a knowing nod.

"Well, how about we return to them now? I'm sure it will be a lot easier to meet them all if you have us at your side," Celestia said. The woman looked at her, her eyes shifting to stare at the Princess' pupils. Slowly, she nodded.

The trio stood themselves up, Everfree groaning a bit as her back cracked. She kicked some dirt into the firepit, extinguishing it, and then used her powers to will a small tree sapling to sprout from the ash.

Finishing her work, she looked to the night sky, taking in the sight of all the twinkling stars above. Luna beamed at her from below, happy to see her enjoy the sky she had created.

"Hey girls," Everfree said, using a tone the two were very familiar with, "how about we play a prank?"

'There she is', Celestia thought, as smirks grew on the trio's faces. "Oh pray tell."

"I'll need to use some of your magic, last time I did something similar I got a very bad headache."

"I don't think she could've been more vague if she tried!" cried Twilight, who for the umpteenth time was rereading the scroll that had arrived thirty minutes ago. Rarity had been sitting next to her, not quite listening, but not quite ignoring the purple Alicorn.

"Darling, they're the Princesses, I'm sure there's no need to worry." The white unicorn said as she inspected her hooves. Rainbow Dash had left to speak to Derpy shortly after the two rulers ventured into the forest, Fluttershy was outside asking some of the wildlife if they had ever met with the spirit, and the remaining four were left inside, with not much to do other than scan some ancient textbooks for any further information.

The yellow pegasus had gotten some odd responses, the birds were being very secretive with her. One of them had slipped up and had let it be known that there was something inside the forest, but never expanded any further. She tried to bribe them with some birdseed but it was to no avail.

She huffed into her hair and sat down on the grass, the stars were particularly beautiful tonight. She enjoyed her time alone listening to the sound of wildlife preparing to sleep, or the song and dance of nearby crickets.

"Fluttershy, I hope all is well?" She yelped in surprise at the sudden visitor next to her, and shakily turned her head to see Celestia and Luna standing a few feet away.

"P-Princess!" she squeaked out, "You made me ju-" She clamped her mouth shut as she spotted a third pony.

Standing a bit further away, was the biggest pony she had ever seen. They must've been so tall that the top of Celestia's horn was at the eye level of this newcomer. Her eyes radiated a feeling of serenity, and Fluttershy's worries melted away as they looked at one another.

Her horn was wrapped in some type of branch, which spread out across the entire body. It was as if they had stood still while a bush had grown over her. Her mane had been tied back into a ponytail by a flower which spiralled around the knot, but the ends of the hair were flowing, just like the two sisters' manes.

She gasped again as she then spotted the wings ruffling on the sides of the pony. This was an Alicorn, one she had never heard of, and they must've been ancient from the size of them. In any other circumstance, she would have curled herself up into a ball, but this mare, she felt... familiar?

"Element of Harmony, Kindness, I presume?" They had said, voice silky smooth. Fluttershy could have listened to it all day and imagined being lullabied to sleep. The pegasus nodded, still staring into their green eyes, which were like little whirlpools of life itself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, are the others inside?" The new mare nodded towards an entrance behind Fluttershy, who finally found her voice again.

"O-oh, yes Miss..." She caught Celestia giggling to herself as Luna suddenly shuffled her hooves and looked down sheepishly.

"Please, Miss won't be necessary, let's head inside and I'll introduce myself."

Fluttershy bowed a little, feeling embarrassed as the huge Alicorn chuckled, but felt relief when a hoof brushed her cheek. She had crossed the distance between the two of them without making any noise at all. It was a caress she had only felt from one other in her life, her mother. Just who was this pony?

The four of them entered Twilight's castle through a rear entrance and found the others in the library. All too distracted with their various activities to notice the new presence in the room with them. Celestia coughed into a hoof, and Twilight's eyes shot up as the anxiety drained from her body.

"Princess, you're back! How did it go?" Straight to business, as was expected. The purple pony heard an unfamiliar giggle from behind the princesses, and her jaw dropped as her head ran through similar thoughts as Fluttershy's earlier.

"You're right, Luna, they are similar."

"Princess, who... who is that?" Twilight asked, scanning the mare at a distance. The others had joined her side, all with the same expression of bewilderment across their faces.

"We'll get to that in a moment, is Rainbow Dash present?" Celestia asked, looking around for the missing pegasus.

"She... She's talking to Derpy, she should be back soon." The newcomer raised an eyebrow but stayed silent as she looked at the white Alicorn expectantly, who blushed and lowered her head. Twilight had never seen Celestia act like this before, this new Alicorn was certainly imposing, but she had such an effect that the ruler of the sun itself acted like a foal whose hoof had been caught in the cookie jar.

"We asked the Elements to speak to the Hooves family, to try and get some information about the situation." The Princess couldn't look the larger pony in the eye who continued to stare at her, a barely perceptible frown appeared for just a moment, before being replaced by a blank expression.

"We'll discuss this later. For now, I think introductions are in order." The green Alicorn approached the group of five, and the size difference was much more on display when they were all within touching distance. "The Princesses here have told you of a spirit in the woods, a very old creature that resides inside." The group nodded as they followed along her words, enchanted by the delicate tone. "One that could have been masquerading as a zebra as they explored Ponyville." The tall mare's eyes met with Twilight's and Applejack's, both of whom felt an uncomfortable sensation of familiarity.

"That zebra was me. I am the spirit of the woods." She paused, letting the information sink in. The purple princess and the orange earth pony's jaw dropped. "I do apologise for our dreadful introductions, you two. Let me start fresh."

"The two Princesses here are both rulers of the sun and moon, and I have a similar quirk. While they can control the skies, my power is in the ground beneath us - nature is as much as me as your hoof is part of your legs." To show off her point, a nearby potted plant exploded in growth, flowers bursting from branches which weren't there moments ago. Pinkie Pie gasped and started bouncing in joy as she noticed how six of the flowers were the same colour as each of her friends.

Everyone else, apart from the two Princess sisters, was speechless.

"I am the mother of nature, I am Everfree."

"These two are my progeny," Everfree spread her wings wide, draping them over the two sisters at her side. "They are... were... my students."

It was at this moment, that Rainbow Dash finally decided to show up. Bewildered by the scene in front of her, she huddled up close to Applejack. "Hey, AJ, who's the giant?"

Applejack looked at the pegasus, still not quite believing what she heard.

"Ah... Ah think she's the Queen?"

Author's Note

Sorry for the delays, I wanted to get this out a few days ago but... Boy, do I enjoy procrastinating with Helldivers 2.

I promise we will see more of the past with Everfree, Celestia and Luna, and see how their bond grew. Originally I wanted an entire flashback chapter before this one, but I feel I want to keep some of that mystery alive for now. Most questions will be answered in further chapters, how long the three of them were around each other before Luna's banishment, where Everfree came from - or more appropriately, when she came.

If you're wondering about Everfree's powers, think on a similar wavelength to Freya from God of War, it's pretty druidy.

Promise the Girl

"Adrian, did you feel that?" asked the gap-toothed woman, who had stopped in her vegetable-cutting duties to glance around her abode warily. "There was an influx of magic, localised in this room." The man in question grunted, continuing to remove the flesh from the rabbit, his dark eyes never leaving its current objective. The woman got to her feet, and she began to poke her head around, trying to feel out where the residual feelings were at their strongest. She began to put her palms out and squeeze her fingers as if trying to pull a thread from a needle's eye.

She felt a small tug of very intense magical energy, similar to the ones she had felt during her times in the pony nation down south. She continued to try and grasp onto it, aiming to find its source but lost her grip. She pouted as she sat back down on a wooden chair, crossing her arms as she puffed some hair into her bangs.

"Don't be dramatic, Mai. Ain't no one looking for us out here." Adrian grunted, finally able to dig his blade under a stubborn piece of meat. "Even if they were - it don't matter none." Maisie stared daggers at her younger brother.

"That's an oxymoron, you idiot." Maisie huffed, continuing to look around the room, trying to discreetly probe at the unseen string again - causing her brother to stop his cutting to look her in the eyes. To the untrained eye, they wouldn't look related. For starters, they were completely different skin colours, one being a pale white, littered with freckles and luscious golden locks, while the other was a light-skinned black man, with a big unkempt black beard resting atop his face, with his hair cut short to his scalp. Their general shapes were wildly different too, Adrian was bulky, but a little short compared to his older sister, who had a good few inches on her - a fact he would always be begrudgingly reminded of whenever they stood side-by-side. Maisie was also very lean, with subtle indications of muscles underneath her skin - a result of her many years surviving in the wilds.

"Mai, seriously, don't worry. I'm sure it was just some curious peeper trying to find strong sources of magic in the area. Probably got the fright of their lives seein' us," The man continued, trying to soothe his sister's worries before it got out of hand. "If you're that worried, I'll call in a storm. No one's gonna come lookin' with lightning striking nearby."

Maisie released a breath she didn't realise she was holding and tried to let go of the tension in her shoulders. "No, don't bother. I'll set up some feelers nearby when you go back home." Adrian shook his head, growing restless from the woman's antics, but knew better than to fight with her like this.

Truthfully, they only saw each other once a week, Maisie lived in the mountains, away from scrying eyes and the various different species around, while Adrian resided a few miles away, near a griffon settlement - a place he had been welcomed into with open appendages when he first delivered a week's worth of hunting.

It was a routine stew night, a little delicacy the two delighted themselves with - Maisie would supply the vegetables, while Adrian brought forth the meat and bones for the stock. It felt like home, working together to cook a dinner, though it missed one critical element.

Adrian looked at the plaque upon his sister's wall, reading over the three different names. His parents, and his eldest sister. He missed them all greatly, but years had tamed his grief, and he had reluctantly settled into acceptance. Maisie, on the other hand, still prayed for them all. They weren't much of a religious family, but she had adopted it into her lifestyle shortly after their arrival in these lands. She would clasp her hands together and whisper into them to pray to a god that they were all ok, and together.

They continued their cooking in silence, the occasional grunt of exertion from cutting a rogue tough root vegetable, or an uncompliant tendon within a slab of meat. The night ticked on as their fire crackled and popped, spitting up embers as the logs within released a little moisture from within.

Soon enough, Adrian was on his way, drudging down a dirt path with a pouch around his waist, filled with various spices and magical potions his sister had gifted him. He wouldn't admit it to his sister - who was much better at feeling any strange occurrences, but he had felt a shiver run down his spine shortly before Maisie had declared anything. He had almost heard a voice yell out to him, as if it was calling him home from the porch.

The blonde woman looked around her abode once more now that she was alone, and realising that whatever remnants of magic in the air had faded, decided to head to the woods, drawing odd shapes into the air as she pushed forth some energy - constructing a sort of fence which would alert her of any interlopers containing a strong magical presence.

Everfree had hastily scribbled out a note and placed it between the two sleeping sisters. She saw Starswirl's journal on the desk as she searched for some paper and a quill, and curiosity got the better of her - if only for a moment. Various writings about the woman, how she had been an annoyance and an obnoxious know-it-all, but how he wished deeply to bring her the same level of comfort as she brought to the two young fillies in her care.

Everfree smiled, she knew the two didn't exactly get along eye-to-eye, but there was an unspoken bond between the two. It warmed her heart to see that he had been searching for a way to let her see her home again. Shaking her head, realising the more pressing matters at hand, she finished her writing, opened the balcony door, and flew off into the night - heading straight for the heart of the forest.

It was nearing midnight by the time she arrived, and she called forth every nocturnal creature she could - summoning them in leagues. They varied from owls, and wolves, to even little mice, united in their goal of helping their guardian, letting any carnivorous desires fall to the weighside for now. They all stood at attention as the woman issued a task, promising bountiful rewards for any leads.

"Outside this forest, there are two others like me. I need to find them, it is of utmost importance. Inform others, and spread this task to all who will hear it, I need to find out where they are, nothing more." Everfree yelled to the crowd of animals in front of her, which had all saluted (which was a very bizarre sight, but one she had grown accustomed to) before either running into the underbrush or flying to the skies.

That night was a cacophony of noise, hoots and howls, squeaks and squarks, the stampeding feet of woodland critters fulfilling their duty. The human did not stand idly by, and took part in the investigation, taking the form of a massive bird - one she had seen in some old mythology books from her homeland. A native-American beast, which's wingspan was easily over five metres in each direction. Thunder rumbled over the forest as she took flight, beginning her search.

Fluttershy's home was in a real state of disarray, she woke up in the early hours of the morning, as the sun started its ascent. Animals were running all over the place, ones that usually wouldn't get along were nodding to each other as they probed each other for information. Bewildered by the sight, she went outside, seeing Discord gleefully clapping at the chaotic nature of her garden.

"Discord, w-whats happening?" she asked, her eyes bouncing around at the various animals racing around her hooves.

Discord looked away from a bunny and a bear which were hilariously sharing notes, "I have no clue, Flutters! But isn't it wonderful?" Fluttershy opened her mouth to reply but felt a huge shadow pass overhead. As she looked to the skies, she gasped as the biggest bird she had ever seen blotted out the sun. Its wings flapped, causing dust to kick up off the ground as it gracefully landed a little ways away from the cottage, ensuring it didn't accidentally crush any animals which weren't paying attention.

No longer silhouetted by the blinding rays of the rising sun, she saw how the bird was a translucent white, its eyes glowing a magnificent golden yellow, the feathers ending in puffs of white fog. It slowly shrunk in size, leaving in place a familiar woman. She was wearing a mask this time, however, and it caused Fluttershy to 'eep' and hide at the creepy horned figure.

Everfree paid her no mind, quickly jogging up the draconequus, which bowed at her approach. "Sir Discord, I have a job."

"Say no more, Milady. Let us go." Discord snapped his fingers, suddenly appearing in a metal suit of armour, holding a flag with the same mark as Everfree's Alicorn cutie mark. The two marched off into the forest behind the cottage, leaving the pastel-yellow pegasus alone.

"What... What just happened?"

Celestia was troubled, she was exhausted from last night's magic usage, and awoke to a scribbled note that read;

Girls,
Thank you so much for the gift last night, while it may seem like it was bad news, it was anything but.
I must find them, I need to know they are alright, I will return as soon as possible to inform you of the happenings
Yours forever,
Everfree Mum

She had shaken Luna awake, shoving the note into her sister's muzzle, who read it a handful of times before looking away, a troubled look in her eyes. There weren't many times they saw the lady so determined, but the times she was, Tartarus hath no fury like a woman scorned.

They both wished for only good tidings to come, but a small part of them dreaded that their mother would not find what she was looking for, and they hoped they wouldn't have to face the consequences. Luna had discovered that the woman was broken, she had pieces missing, or out of place. Maybe this venture could help solve the puzzle, or perhaps it would just introduce more pieces to further complicate the picture.

Celestia had been pacing back and forth as she expressed her worries to her sister, who begrudgingly listened as her tiredness threatened to knock her out. Luna, fed up with her sister's antics, and wanting to be alone in her room, simply said that they must have hope in Everfree and that she knew what she doing.

Ever the worrier, the white Alicorn left the room continuing to stress. She put on a face of calm complacency for most events, but the human's manic actions filled her mind with doubts - she didn't know those other two, would they be happy to see her? Or would they reject her, yell into her face - pushing her into a deep depression? She didn't know the answer, and it gnawed at her like a ravenous beast.

Knowing there was nothing she could do for the moment, as her magic reserves ran dry, she had to sit in her day court, fidgeting with anxiety as the day seemed to slow to a crawl.

Everfree and Discord had been flying side-by-side over various mountain ranges on the borders of Equestria, trying to pinpoint a log cabin surrounded by pine trees. Their efforts continued until the evening, as the draconequus began to pant from exertion. Noticing her partner's ragged breaths, the woman decided that she could continue alone. Flapping her mighty wings to come to a halt, her friend stopped beneath her - preparing for the woman to shift back into a form she could speak from.

Dropping from the sky into Discord's awaiting arms, Everfree was human once again. "That's enough for today Discord. Head home, I'll continue from here."

"But, Lady Everfree, have you slept? Surely we should both get some rest and continue tomorrow?" he pleaded, realising that she was wearing herself thin. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she seemed to tremble in his grip. She shook her head at him,

"I won't be able to rest until I find them, go home. I need to do this." She stood firm, the weight of her words not faltering even though she had to stare up at the bizarre mishmash of creatures which held her in his arms. He looked upon her with sad eyes, realising that he couldn't convince her otherwise. He nodded, and threw the woman into the air, allowing her to shift once again into that colossal beast.

Discord watched as she flew off, hearing how the clouds below seemed to crash together, erupting deafening cracks of thunder. He shook his head, snapped his fingers, and vanished.

Everfree scanned the ground from above, splitting any clouds apart with a mighty gust of air from a flap of her wings. She wouldn't admit it, but she was really missing that cosy Canterlot bed right now. Circling a mountain several times, before a frustrated shake of her head, she shot off in a different direction, heading deep into dragon territory.

Continuing to push herself, her tired eyes threatened to close on her, but she forced them open, she couldn't allow herself to sleep while her brother and sister were out there. It had been over one thousand, seven hundred years since she saw them last. Over one thousand, seven hundred years since she held them within her arms. She had to see them again.

So, she pursued her goal ever further, fighting off her urges to eat and sleep as she surveyed the land below.

The evening turned to night, and night turned to morning, but this did not falter the woman's persistence - what did, however, was her suddenly plummeting from the skies as she finally drained herself of all her energy. 'Landing' in a mighty crash, the huge bird was sprawled out in a crater.

She tried to pick herself up, but couldn't find the strength within her, and her head dropped. She lay unconscious for hours, as some teenage dragons managed to find the knocked-out ethereal bird. Looking at each other with wide eyes, they decided this was a matter best suited for an Elder to figure out.

Everfree awoke to see a huge gold dragon looking over her. Realising she must've reverted to human form, she tried to pick herself up but was pushed back down by the reptile who scolded her. "No, my Lady, you are unwell, you must rest." the woman growled in response as she barred her teeth - which managed to have an effect as the dragon took a step back.

"There is no time for this, let me go, now!" she demanded, her head vision swirling as she stood up - and then promptly plummeted back down as blood rushed out of her brain.

The dragon carefully picked her back up, and placed her back on the bed, one that was far too large for the human - and was most likely her doctor's own. "Lady Everfree, you are to remain here until you have at least slept and eaten, I will hear no more of it!"

Everfree huffed, trying to ward off her dizziness. Realising she was in no state to take off again, she submitted to the doctor's orders. Silence filled the room for a while before she finally spoke, "Lady... why Lady?"

"You jest, Lady Everfree, surely." replied the golden-scaled giant, "You are basically royalty here."

"Oh, right. That." She grumbled to herself, recalling how the dragons had regaled her with fame and treasures after her visits in the past. She restlessly fidgeted, feeling worthless being able to not get up. Trying to pass the time, she called up to her new companion, trying to gain his attention. "What's your name, young one?"

"Cinder Cone, and it's been some time since I've ever been called 'young'," he replied, plopping himself on the ground to sit beside the bed, his large snout close to the human. She felt her body warm up in its presence and cooed at the sensation.

"Sorry, Cinder, a force of habit. In all fairness, you're all young to me," Everfree yawned back, blushing a bit at her choice of words.

Cinder Cone nodded thoughtfully, puffing some warm air onto the woman, "I did not say I did not like it, it was nice to not be seen as ancient by another. We met before when I was just a hatchling, you know."

Everfree's eyes widened, and she sat herself up, looking at the giant behemoth in front of her. "No, you're that Cinder Cone?! Oh how much you've grown! I remember you holding tightly to my leg when I was telling the rest of your clan fables from my home."

A deep crimson blush grew across the dragon's face, thinking that the woman would have surely forgotten that embarrassing memory. "Yes, Milady, that was I. We still spread those tales down through our young." The two began to speak about their lives since their last encounter, Everfree's frustration melting away as she heard about the dragon's various antics.

Cinder Cone grew sorrowful as he heard about the woman's mission to find her siblings, realising why she had been so determined. "I know I do not know the feeling of wanting to reunite with a brother or sister who I have not seen in lifespans triple my own, but once you are well - and only when, us dragons will aid you in your task."

Everfree smiled for the first time in two days and rested a palm on the giant snout in front of her. The dragon sighed at her touch, as insignificant as her hand was compared to this large creature, to be touched by this woman felt like a treasure few could even wish to have.

They continued to chat, about their lives, their children, almost anything. Food had been delivered by a small pink hatchling, who meekly popped her head in to witness this fabled figure. A selection of different salads, which had been bought from a nearby pony settlement via a teenage dragon wanting to prove his worth to Everfree.

The woman expressed her deepest wishes to thank the teen, and before she started to devour the food in front of her, realised the little pink dragon was still watching her from behind Cinder's foot. Everfree smiled at her, gesturing for her to come over. The hatchling looked up at her elder, who nodded and helped her get to the top of the large bed.

"And who might you be?" Everfree asked, patting a spot beside her, indicating the hatchling to sit.

"M-Moti," she replied, her eyes sparkling as she realised she was able to meet the person behind all her favourite stories.

"Well, hello Moti, my name's Everfree. It's a pleasure to meet you." grabbing a mouthful of salad, she started to chow down, happily cooing as she tasted some red peppers - her favourite vegetable. Moti giggled at her bizarre noises. Cinder Cone watched in delight as he experienced the sight of a young one being in the presence of the spirit.

Finishing her three different bowls of salad, Everfree patted her full stomach. Feeling much more refreshed, but knowing that she still could use some more rest. Looking at the pink dragon next to her, she picked her up, placing her on her lap. Moti laughed as she was lifted with ease, and snuggled into the warmth of the arms enveloping her. Everfree was happy to have what was essentially a hot water bottle on her stomach.

"Hey Moti, do you know what I like when I've had dinner?" she asked with mirth in her eyes, gesturing for Cinder to come closer.

"What is it, Miss Everfree?" she asked, looking up with her big beady eyes.

"I love a good story, do you want to hear some?" Moti squealed, and Cinder had to stop himself from doing the same, oh it had been so long since they were graced by this woman's stories. "Hey Cinder, what say we gather the clan, and relive those old days, huh?"

The golden dragon nodded furiously, quickly calling outside his large cave for everyone to gather around.

The floor beneath the bed filled with adult dragons, as the bed swarmed with hatchlings and teenagers - with the one who had gotten Everfree her salads having the privilege of sitting right beside her as she scratched his back. All eagerly anticipating whatever fables flowed from their Lady's mouth.

"Have I ever told you about the story of Toothless the Dragon, and his human companion?"

Celestia and Luna were now suitably worried. It had been two days since Everfree had left and they hadn't heard anything. No messenger, no news from Ponyville, nothing. "Luna, I knew something was wrong! She's pushing herself beyond her limits, and we've seen before how poorly that goes!" Celestria cried out to her sister, who was sitting atop the bed in the white Alicorn's chambers.

"I know, sister. It was foolish of me to think she should be left to deal with this on her own. Perhaps we send news to Twilight to request her aid?" Luna asked, wanting to take flight there and then to track down the spirit.

"Maybe it's for the best, we could use all the help we can ge-" Celestia was cut off by the sudden poof next to her, a familiar chaotic god materialising in front of them. Instead of this usual smug face, he wore a serious and tired expression - one which informed the two that this was business calling.

"Tia, Lulu, any news from Everfree?" he asked, looking between the two with a hint of desperation in his voice.

"No, Discord, nothing yet. Did she recruit you for her search?" Luna asked, remembering that the draconequus and the human had a tight-knit friendship.

"That is not the news I was hoping for. But yes, Lulu, she requested my aid but sent me home after a full day of searching yesterday. I've not heard from her since, and none of the animals at Fluttershy's cottage can tell us anything," Discord pulled at his goatee, "It's like she vanished."

Huffing at hearing the pestering little wyvern call her by her nickname, Luna looked out the window, her wings shuffling as she lost herself in thought.

Celestia turned to the patched-together collection of creatures, "Where were you closest to when she sent you home?"

"We had finished searching a mountain close to the Dragon Lands border, but seeing as I am not allowed entry due to their deep hatred for me, I haven't been able to ask around," he explained, again pulling on his goatee, little grey hairs being pulled out from this incessant plucking.

Celestia's eyes widened, 'yes, of course!' she thought, 'the dragons share a strong history with Everfree, they would surely aid us in our search for her,' She stood tall, feeling her resolve return to her after days of lacking it. "Discord, return to Ponyville, and make sure any messages from the animals are documented, Luna, I need you to stay here to ensure duties are continued, I will head to the Dragon Lands."

"But-" Luna started and was swiftly cut off by her older sister.

"No buts! I have the most sway with the dragons, and we cannot both leave the castle again. The Canterlot nobles were hard enough to bear with our last absence." Celestia shuddered at the memory.

Luna grumbled but saw sense in her sister's words. Discord gave a salute and poofed back into nonexistence as he returned home. Celestia packed a small bag of essentials, and flew off into the night sky, teleporting short distances to conserve her magic reserves.

Maisie hummed to herself as she collected various berries, depositing them into a homemade satchel which dangled from her waist. On any which radiated a stronger magical presence, the woman kneeled in front of them and pinched the air slightly away from the fruits. Carefully pulling away to extract their turbulent, almost spiky, strings of magic.

They were poisonous, and Maisie made sure to throw any away and to clean her hands. Not that it would really affect her - but trying to follow in her younger brother's footsteps, she wanted to gift some to the local griffin settlement, raise her standing a bit. Giving them a whole bunch of toxic food would surely not be a great first impression.

She continued on her trek, trying to hunt down any raspberries, or anything similar. She had the idea of baking some pies, thinking a sweet treat might show off her usefulness. Of course, Adrian would suggest some meat pies, but Maisie could never quite wrap her head around the savoury pastry.

A nice strawberry crumble or apple pie - it reminded her of home, smelling her mother's or Winry's baking on the rare occasions they would cook one up. She drooled a bit, remembering their taste as she devoured them in her youth. It was bizarre what she could and couldn't remember. Their cooking stayed firm, but the colour of her parent's eyes? That was lost to time.

Suddenly kicked out of her stupor as a branch whacked her in the face, she whinced as she held her nose, making sure it wasn't bleeding. Sniffling a bit, she concluded the rogue tree limb didn't do any real damage, and decided to make it pay for its actions. She gripped it and tried yanking, pulling it off the trunk with ease.

She grumbled as she waved the branch around, with a little modification it could make a decent enough fire poker, so she tied it to the back of her satchel's strap. Realising all the noise in the area had suddenly gone deathly quiet, Maisie lowered her body to the ground. A quiet forest didn't mean much, but a silent one? That's danger calling.

She looked up into the trees, trying to see if any birds were in the area, and took a deep intake of air as she realised there were many - but they were all staring at her. They didn't make any noise, they didn't even move, they just stared at the human with big wide eyes. She looked into the forest and saw that various other wildlife was doing the same.

Unnerved and feeling her heart about to erupt from her chest, she yelled out, "What's the big deal!?" She saw a deer turn its head slightly to knicker towards a rabbit, which then squeaked to a squirrel, who chirped to a bird, which then squawked to no one in particular. And then, like an eruption, all the animals began making noise - and various birds flew off, all in the same direction. South.

'Oh, screw this!' Maisie thought, as she sprinted back to her log cabin, not wanting to be caught in whatever the hell that was. The most unnerving detail about it was she felt no strong magical aura in the area - that was, apparently, a natural phenomenon.

Shaken from her experience, she tried to divert her attention to her collected berries, pouring them all out into a wooden bowl. Not wanting to look, but feeling like she had to, her eyes shifted to her closest window. Looking back at her were several birds, and the same deer from earlier, and they all had what looked like... joy on their faces. How a bird managed to look happy with their beak was a question she couldn't answer, but it really did not make her feel good.

Shakily raising her hand to her blinds, she closed them, closing the cabin from the outside light. She sighed to herself, her breath shuddering at the bizarre occurrence. She concentrated inwards, bringing the palms of her hands to her chest, and once she found what she was looking for, gripped her open hands into fists - pulling an invisible force out of her chest, gesturing in the direction of her brother's house, and opening her hands again.

"Adrian, can you come over? Something weird is going on..." Maisie whined into the air, her arms falling to her side. Her brother never liked her telepathic ability, he would always say it felt obtrusive and rude - nevertheless, Maisie heard a loud crackle of thunder, and saw a bolt of lightning strike a few miles down the dirt path. An indication he had received her message, and was heading over.

Celestia panted as she rested atop a rocky hilltop deep in the Dragon Lands, ahead of her she saw the evidence of a nearby clan, but all the dragons were seemingly absent. Curiosity getting the better of her, she trudged on as she flew over, hearing various oos and aahs from within a nearby cave.

Feeling energy surge within her as she noticed that her goal was within reach, she landed on the rocky ground, scarred with various scorch marks and craters, and as she approached the cave, she soon realised its entrance was being blocked by the backs of various older dragons - who all seemed to be humming or playing the drums on their stomachs - a sort of musical backing number.

The white Alicorn tried squeezing through, but finding no place to fit through on the ground, took flight to look over the shoulders of the giant reptiles. Once at head level with the large creatures, she finally saw what the commotion was - on a bed large enough for a woman ten times her size, was Everfree, surrounded by dragons of all different shapes and colours, all of which were entranced by a story she was currently telling. Celestia let out a breath, finally knowing she could relax, and instead of butting in, decided to listen.

"And Toothless let out a mighty roar! The dragons all around him bowed their heads, before responding with their very own!" The various viewers all let out their own cries and roars in response, "Toothless was their alpha, not by size, but by sheer power- and tenacity. Hiccup the human watched with pride, as his mother took his hands," Everfree began to imitate an accent from a foreign land, "'You're father, would be every bit as proud as I am.' Hiccup, ever grateful for his mother's return, thanked her, 'I'm really glad you're here mum' he said, tears welling in his eyes." Everfree took a moment to gaze upon her crowd of onlookers, seeing a distinctly non-dragon-shaped creature at the very back of the crowd. Her eyes sparkled as she looked directly at her, "'And here I'll stay.'"

Deciding to cut things short, she allowed the music-making dragons in the back to finish their swells and allowed the whoops and hollers to die down. Moti, sitting atop her lap, asked with her eyes filled with that wonderful curiosity children have, "But what happened to Hiccup and Astrid?"

Everfree rested a hand atop her head, scratching her scales, and regrettably informed her that she would have to finish the story at a later time, she had to relieve herself for some fresh air. The crowd all moaned, before Cinder hushed them all, and gestured to the exit, leading everyone out. He thanked the woman for such a wonderful story, and his eyes lit up as she informed him there was more to come.

Celestia dodged out of the way of the oncoming traffic, flapping her wings to look over the clan, all of which discussing what could happen next to their heroes. Eventually, one of the larger dragons took notice of the flying pony above its head.

"Princess? What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice deep, and booming, which caused others to look over.

"The Princess?"

"A pony, here?"

"Why is she here?"

Murmurs from the crowd. Celestia blushed, realising she had wanted to make a proper entrance instead of just showing up. She opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by a familiar voice calling out.

"It's ok, everyone she's here to talk with me," Everfree stated, exiting the gave, gesturing for the Princess to land beside her. A couple more grumbles, more to do with the fact that their time with the spirit was being stolen by the pony than anything else, but the woman paid them no mind, smiling warmly as she hugged Celestia.

Realising why she was here, the pony pulled back, fixing the woman with a glare, "We have been so worried about you! You can't just leave like that, we only just got you back!" Everfree's expression faltered, knowing this was coming.

"I know, Tia. I'm so sorry - I was so wrapped up in emotions and information that I pushed myself, but I learnt my lesson, my old friends here reminded me to sit down and relax. I promise next time I get the inclination to run off, I'll tell you and Luna," she explained, her voice sorrowful and low.

"Just... Be careful, we're here with you now, you don't have to charge headfirst into things," Celestia stated, bringing Everfree back into her embrace, "we love you, you know that, right?" The woman shuddered, her breath hitching as she tightened her arms around the pony.

"I know, and I love you too, Tia, you and your sister," fighting off the tears, as she didn't want to cry for another consecutive day, she dug her face deep into the pony's neck, "My baby brother and sister are out there, and I wanted to make them know I didn't abandon them."

"From what I saw, they're hardly 'babies' anymore, mother," Celestia replied, her breath catching in her throat at a sudden gasp from behind her. She slowly turned around to see a dragon who had been happily listening in on their intimate conversation. Everfree smiled, realising the immediate comeuppance her daughter was about to receive after her little comment.

"Mother?!"

"Celestia was hatched from Everfree?!"

"Mommy, how are babies made?"

"Wait, you guys didn't know?"

"The Princesses are the Lady's offspring!"

Celestia brought a hoof to her face as the crowd began chattering amongst themselves, groaning as the human wrapped an arm around her nape loosely. "You know, for Princesses, the both of you have some real difficulties choosing your words."

After the clan had calmed down, Everfree had everyone seated again, and she wove the threads of the ending of Toothless and Hiccup's story, talking about a 'Light Fury' and an evil mastermind who enslaved dragons. Celestia was entranced, she had wished for a night like this since she reunited with her mother.

As time marched ever forward, some in the group began to yawn, and after she wrapped up the story, mentioning a fabled 'secret world' as she gestured around her, the clan decided to put the hatchlings to bed, and the spirit decided it was a good time for her to do the same, inviting Celestia along.

Mounting the seriously huge bed, Everfree panted as the winged pony looked at her with a smug expression, which was responded to by the woman sticking her tongue out in her direction. Still feeling the aches from her crash earlier, she had chosen to remain human for the time being, much to her own dismay.

"Come morning, let's return to Ponyville, see if my animals have dug anything up, and if they haven't, then I guess we wait," Everfree said, lying down atop the warm surface - which was thankfully loaned to her by Cinder - who was currently sleeping with the unhatched eggs.

"That sounds good... my Lady," Celestia cheekily replied, snuggling in close to the human beside her - who groaned out loud.

"Not you too..."

Feeling revitalised after their slumbers, both the pony and the human left the Dragon Lands with their full potential back, Everfree saying her goodbyes to the dragons as Celestia rose the sun. She hugged Cinder as tight as she could, considering the size difference, and gave Moti a little kiss on her forehead.

As the two walked off, they both waved behind them, seeing the various sizes of dragons return the gesture. Everfree smiled, and that expression didn't leave their lips until Celestia prepared to teleport the both of them back to Ponyville. Now that her powers were all stocked back up, she realised she wouldn't need to make short conservative jumps, and instead was able to just go straight there.

They had materialised just outside Fluttershy's cottage and witnessed Discord jotting down notes on a notepad, wearing glasses far down his muzzle, as he interviewed various animals. Seeing the appearance of the two, he waved them over, keeping up his professional nature.

"Any updates, Sir Discord?" Everfree asked, resulting in Celestia raising an arched eyebrow, "I'll tell you later."

"Yes, Milady, quite a few," The draconequus flipped through several pages, reading through them in a monotone voice. "Chester the Chipmunk believes that Rodrick the Raccoon stole his winter rations, Marlene the Mouse felt intimidated in the presence of a barn house owl, there have been multiple reports of an 'Everfree-like-figure' to the north, just inside the griffin border, and that Felix the Cat wants to be fed again."

Celestia blanked, almost beginning to tune the chaos god out, and suddenly tuned back in. "Multiple sightings? How credible?" she asked.

"From the sounds of it, very, Tia." Discord replied as he loomed smugly over the Princess.

"Alright, then this is it, we'll get prepped and head there soon. Discord, meet us at the balcony you first spoke to me at a few days back." he nodded in response, as Everfree began to pet the various critters running around her feet. "Celestia, let's grab Luna. I will meet with them alone, but I may need the moral support." The Princess smiled, the woman had actually learnt a lesson.

Everfree looked over Ponyville, gazing in the general direction of the Hooves' household, but figured it would be best to come to them when she had the full story to tell. 'I miss Dinky' she thought to herself, her mouth beginning to drool as she began to look forward to her next picnic.

With a crackle, Celestia teleported the pair back to Everfree's chambers, and they both began to chuckle as they saw a sleeping Luna atop the human's bed, tightly hugging a pillow. Slowly creeping up to the dark Alicorn, the human ran her hand down her back, whispering into her ear, "Get up sleepyhead, time for school."

"Fah moah minutes..." she groggily replied, swatting at nothing in particular. Unfortunately, Everfree was a persistent creature.

"Lunaaaa~" she sang out, beginning to mount the bed, crashing her body against the sleeping Princess, which Celestia continued to giggle at. Jolted awake, Luna shot up, sleepy delirium clouding her memory before she laid her eyes on the biped next to her, and tightly hugged her.

"Mother! Don't do that again! We were so worried!" she exclaimed into Everfree's chest, who began to brush her ethereal mane with her hand.

"I know, I know, I already got an earful from your sister, but I am sorry, and I'm here with news," she replied, her chin resting atop Luna's head, narrowly avoiding the huge horn sprouting from it. The lunar Princess pulled away, looking into her mother's eyes. "To the north, we believe, a mountain on the inside of griffin territory."

"Then let us go! We meet with your siblings - our aunt and uncle?" Luna asked, a quizzical expression on her face as she pondered what familiarity bonds she held with the two strangers. Everfree laughed out loud.

"We'll decide on family dynamics later, but first, let's discuss how to approach this," She gestured a hand to Celestia, inviting her to sit on the bed with the pair. Once she planted herself down, Everfree continued, "I will meet the two alone, while I want nothing more than to have you both with me, my first reunion must be just us 'Everfrees', but before that, I want to get some information out of them, while being incognito. I'll call out to you two and Discord to introduce yourselves when I know they aren't going to kill me."

"Is that a possibility?" Celestia asked, eyes growing wide, Everfree faltered, a worried smile on her face.

"I... I really don't know Tia."

"Must that obnoxious wyvern come with us? You know my feelings on him." Luna stated bluntly, huffing into her mane at the thought of having to share moments with him.

"Hey now, you two might not like it, but he's my friend, and honestly, if he asked to be my son like you two did to be my daughters, I would find it incredibly difficult to refuse." Everfree laid out, wincing slightly at the shocked expressions she got in return, but deciding to stand firm. Choosing not to say more, she nods her head firmly with a 'harumph'.

"...Well..." Celestia picked up the conversation, "As you said, we'll discuss the family dynamics at a later point. let us go forth."

The obnoxious wyvern in question knocked on the balcony door three times, and when hearing a 'Come in!' from inside, entered, his eyes glancing around the paintings on the walls, the same ones he and Everfree would inspect back in their olden days. He smiled a true smile this time, not one laced with smugness or with an impending joke at someone's expense, drinking up the sights of this room which seemed like a sort of time capsule.

"So, let's go over this one last time..."

Maisie was currently biting at her nails, a nervous habit she had ever since she was little, as Adrian walked around her cottage. A storm raged outside, one by choice to scare off the various critters which were interrupting his sister's and, by proxy, his peace. Lightning struck down in several places, causing the final few onlookers to flee into the woods surrounding the lonesome cabin.

"Alright, Mai, they're gone, you mind telling me what the hell that was about?" Adrian asked, grunting as he flexed his fingers, feeling little jolts of electricity running through them.

"Adri, I... I really don't know, there was no magic, no external forces, they were just... staring at me! It was like one of those old horror movies we caught Winry watching!" Maisie panted out, her fingers still close to her mouth, muffling some of the words.

"Well, that certainly ain't normal, might be best if you bunk with me for a few days." Adrian offered, continuing to look out the window at the hard-hitting rain. His hand moved to a nearby candle, raising it to his reflection. He stared at his face for a moment, "Damn, I need to shave." he muttered under his breath. Lowering the light source, his breathing halted as he spotted two spiralling eyes staring at him from a fair distance away in the trees. He turned his head slightly, never letting his eyes leave the ghastly visage. "Uhh, Mai, maybe we speed up our moving plans?"

Her voice was full to the brim with terror, "Adri, what is it? what's out there-" A huge shiver ran down her spine, and several strong tangents of magic appeared in her vision, "Oh no," she whispered. Adrian quickly turned to his sister, suddenly feeling like two scared kids again.

"What's happening?" he harshly whispered, choosing to duck beneath the window. Maisie shakily looked towards him, her pupils like pinpricks.

"S-something very powerful just crossed the threshold." Her breathing accelerated. Adrian warily peeked over the countertop, trying to spot the glowing eyes from before, but they were no longer in the last spot. He cursed under his breath, calling forward a deep energy, causing crackles of lightning to run through his fingers. He crawled to the front door, looking back at his sister, and nodded.

He stood to his full height, which granted, wasn't all that impressive, but his intimidating build should hopefully do enough. He yelled out into the storm, as lightning crashed down nearby, "WHO ARE YOU?"

A tree directly in front of the house shuffled, and he raised his hands in preparation for an attack. His posture faltered as a feminine human frame pushed apart the branches, revealing herself. Her skin was light-skinned, similar to his own, but her face was covered in a wooden mask, which looked almost tribal. It had two glowing white spirals as eyes, which faintly span as the figure tilted her head, long wooden horns sprouting from the top. Other than her legs and arms, which were both barren, the rest of her body was wrapped in some very ancient-looking robes, - she looked a bit like a shaman, all things considered.

"I... I know you," Adrian stuttered out, causing the figure to freeze. "I've had dreams... visions... of you," his resolve strengthened as he gritted his teeth, raising his electric palm back up, "Last time, who are you?"

The woman in front of him raised her hands, her voice muffled behind her mask, "I come in peace, no harm, I promise!", she yelled through the storm making it incredibly difficult to decipher her words. Adrian growled slightly, commanding her to remove her mask. "Let's do that inside, out of the rain? With the other." The figure's raised hand pointed towards the currently cowering woman inside, she lowered her body slightly, trying to not appear as such an imposing figure.

Unfortunately, her looming just sold the image of an unnatural creature, and the young man's eyes flashed with various emotions. He called out behind him, keeping his palms and pupils locked in the direction of the intruder.

"Mai, this guy wants to come in, any input on this?" He yelled.

"Do we have a choice?!" The woman shouted back. Adrian looked at the spirit expectedly and was discouraged when they gave a brief shrug of its shoulders, arms still reaching for the sky. He sighed, lowering his hands, his electricity dying out. He entered the cabin and gestured for the weird creature to follow.

Its eyes seemed to curve, as if cheek marks were being pushed into them. 'Was that a smile?' Adrian thought to himself, as he closely inspected the figure as they got closer. On closer expectation, he realised that they were huge, now, Adrian wasn't the tallest fella, not that he had many others to compare to, but this masked humanoid was at least a foot and a half taller than him.

"This is a lovely home, you two. Live here together?" it asked, curiously exploring the insides with her creepy eyes.

Maisie opened her mouth to say no but was quickly cut off by her younger brother, through gritted teeth "Yes, we're here together. Watch each other's backs." The figure nodded its head, not quite listening as it already knew the answer, having seen the other house further down the dirt path.

Its eyes planted themselves on the plaque above a fireplace, staring at it for a long time. The two siblings shared a look of unease and watched as it slowly got closer to it, it raised a barren hand to touch its surface, and right before they made contact -

"Hands off," Maisie growled, "That's no business of yours." There's that familiar bite. The spirit stopped its approaching hand, looking towards the girl who had stopped cowering and was now in a more battle-ready stance, with her hands in a claw shape. The humanoid raised its hands up in a sign of peace again, a gesture that was really starting to irritate Adrian. Maisie continued, feeling a fire in her heart, "What exactly is your business?"

The spirit brought a finger to its chin, or, where Maisie assumed its chin to be under the mask. "In all honesty, my business is you two, you're quite an oddity in this land." Adrian snorted, knowing that whatever this was, was also something freakish, "Considering I saw sparks come out of Adrian's hands, and that you, Maisie," the humanoid pointed directly at her, "just radiate something strong, you've both got quite the pair of powers, huh?"

Maisie chewed on her lip as her mind raced, but her younger brother stepped forward, "Yeah, and what's it to you?"

The figure leaned close, her mask almost touching the young man's forehead, and whispered, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours." A sudden jolt shot through the man's mind, that voice, that antagonistic teasing whisper - he knew it. He opened his mouth, but couldn't comprehend the words to spit out, and just as he found the perfect string of syllables and vowels, Maisie interjected.

"How did you know our names?" she whispered. The figure leaned back from the man, who was now connecting the dots, strolling a little closer to the smaller blonde-haired woman. "I never said Adrian, and he only called me Mai, how do you know our names?"

"C'mon, girl, I know you're smarter than this." The figure whispered into her ear, and just like that, the two adults were stunned.

Coming from behind that mask, was her voice. A bit older, more aged, but it was certainly hers.

"W-Winry?" Adrian asked out, practically begging. The middle sister, however, was not so polite.

"Take that mask off. NOW!" she yelled, almost leaping at the tall figure in front of her.

"Hey, hey! Settle down, young lady." the only response the masked figure got was another animalistic growl. "Yeech, that's what that looks like? No wonder it gets the reaction it does."

"Enough games, take off that mask!" Maisie gripped an edge of the mask and pulled, only succeeding in yanking the spirit's whole head down with it.

"Careful, you little brat! This thing's connected to the back of my head too!" The spirit yelped out, wincing as their hair was pulled.

From behind, Adrian could see various tree roots exiting the rear end of the mask, growing around the back of the figure's head, and going deep into her hair. It was like it grew around her, and he watched in half fascination, half disgust as the roots slowly slivered back into the bark like a snake.

The figure stood to her full height, towering over the both of them. Adrian must have been about the height of her collarbone, while Maisie stood to reach her chin. As she gazed down upon them wistfully, her mask's glowing eyes faded slightly, and a hand reached up to grip the bottom of it, and she slowly pulled it back, letting the two see her face.

They gasped, and little sister Maisie, with tears in her eyes, reached out to hesitantly touch her cheek. Baby brother Adri, well, he didn't bother with the subtlety. He immediately brought her into a vice-like grip, holding her in a tight embrace.

"W-Winnie?" Mai squeaked out, looking upon the face of her big sister. She gave an awkward grin, trying to breathe as her baby brother made it incredibly difficult to do so.

"T-The one and only."

Discord was currently chewing on an apple obnoxiously loud right into Luna's ear, as the three hid behind a tree spying on the log cabin ahead of them. The dark Alicorn grit her teeth as she fought the urge to punt him to the other side of the continent.

Celestia side-eyed the both of them, before resuming her duties, a pair of large binoculars on her muzzle as she watched Everfree unmask herself, and smiled warmly as she saw the smaller of the three hug her, and the blonde-maned woman reaching out to her cheek.

The moment was short-lived, however, as Discord, ever persistent in pushing his luck, burped directly into Luna's ear, which was the beginning of the chaos.

"Oh, that is IT!"

Celestia sighed, as Luna tackled the draconequus, and gasped as she saw the same blonde woman slap Everfree with as much force as she could.

"What the hell were you thinking, Winnie?! That was so scary!" Maisie yelled, pushing her sister away with a shove, causing Winry and Adrian to topple to the ground, but gasping for air as the wind was knocked out the two of them.

Winry, gasping for breath, managed out, "I... Thought it would be... funny?"

A vengeful face of blonde freckled anger leapt onto her.

"Discord, I'm going to kill you!" Luna yelled, chasing the laughing chaos lord with a large stick she had found.

"Not if you can't catch me!" he joyfully shouted, skipping through the air. Luna reared her stick back, and swung it as hard as she possibly could, aiming for the impossibly hard-to-miss target - and unfortunately hit the other impossibly hard-to-miss target. Celestia's rear end.

Dropping her binoculars with a cry, the white Alicorn span around with a deep fury in her eyes, and Luna and Discord decided that maybe there was a bigger fish.

"You little s-"

"Mai, get off of her!" Adrian yelled, now jumping onto his middle sister, which further caused Winry to lose oxygen with the height of two people on her chest.

"Oh, of course, Adri, always the mama's boy!" Maisie snarled back, throwing a bench in his direction.

"I'm not your MOTHER!" Winry screamed from below, grabbing a fistful of the braided hair above her, and yanked as hard as possible. The younger girl cried out in pain, before throwing a slap in her direction, and due to the height difference, landed the hit on her right breast.

"D- did you just slap my boob?" Winry asked, bewildered.

"Y-Yeah! I did, what are you gonna do?"

Celestia held the two squirming forms in front of her in her magic, glaring daggers at the two. Discord snapped his finger, and a custard pie apparated out of nowhere, aimed directly at his captor's face. Luna managed to grab a pine cone off the floor and threw it at her sister - which somehow managed to hit her right in the eye.

She screamed as her vision was part cream, part cone, and instantly dropped the two from her hold. Now free, Luna continued to chase the annoying vermin, hurling other pinecones off the floor in his direction.

Celestia wiped her face with her foreleg and turned around to see the pair were running directly at the cabin, as horror and dread washed over her face - with a little hint of custard.

As Luna skidded to a halt, she watched Discord dance ahead of her, directly in front of the cabin's door. "You can't get me, la la la la lalala!" His teasing stopped as Luna lowered her head, and gave a warning swipe of her hoof at the ground, threatening to charge. "Y-you wouldn't."

Luna charged.

Just as the two were about to connect, the front door of the cabin slammed open, a ball of human limbs kicking and punching at one another. Maisie was atop Winry Everfree, slapping her face and throwing punches at every limb she saw, she grinned as she heard her sister wheeze when she hit her right shoulder - evidence of a sore spot.

Celestia began to close in, wanting to break up the fight, but witnessed Discord get thrown over the two fighting humans, screaming bloody murder as Luna galloped after him. She decided to just give up and sat on her haunches in the midst of combat.

Adrian snuck out of the cabin, seeing that there were some newcomers. Recognizing one of the calmer ones to be one of those rulers from down south. he carefully avoided the punch pile, and sat down next to her, and they shared a look.

"So, siblings, huh?" Adrian asked.

"Siblings." Celestia nodded.

"I better break this up before they draw blood." the man said, as he continued to just watch.

"Probably too late for that, let's just rest for the moment."

Winry was pushing at her sister's face, trying to force her off, and yelped in pain as she felt teeth bite down on her fingers. "You little gap-toothed bas-"

Discord was in a tree, sending a barrage of different cream-filled pastries down upon his attacker, Luna tried to flap her wings to get up to him, but every time she got some air, she was struck by a stale doughnut, knocking her back to the ground. "When I get my hooves on you, I'll rip you limb from -

Having caught their breaths, Adrian nodded to the pony alongside him. He charged into his middle sister, slamming his shoulder into her side as they tumbled into the wet mud together. Celestia charged at Luna, preparing to catch them both in magic, while also erecting a shield around herself.

Now free from her attacker, Everfree looked around at the scenes in front of her. Her youngest brother, now a bearded stocky man, was currently pinning her sister down, who was a lean, mean, punching machine. She gazed at the other side, witnessing her two daughters glare daggers at each other as they magicked up various debris to lob at one another, as her pseudo-son rained down chocolate milk above the two of them, drenching them in the liquid.

Looking down at herself, she was absolutely caked in mud, feeling like she was more dirt than flesh at that moment, she took a deep breath, and put her palms into the ground below. Unleashing a torrent of energy, she focused on the five figures around her.

Thick tree roots shot up from the ground, all wrapping between the individuals, tearing them off one another. Their limbs were pinned to their sides as they were trapped in mid-air. Everfree panted, but yet, she still heard the various parties yelling insults at one another.

Unlocking a deep memory for everyone involved, Everfree yelled "STOP."

Like magic, there was silence. All five remembered different moments in their childhood when the woman had yelled at them, Adrian playing with a metal fork near an electrical outlet, Maisie trying on one of her sister's dresses and putting her foot through the wrong hole - ripping the fabric, Luna painting her sister's room a dark black, Celestia almost breaking the mask of the spirit, and Discord's various shenanigans at the expanse of the woman.

Everfree gave them all the stink eye, glaring daggers at anyone or anypony who dared to open their mouths. She ran her hands through her tangled muddied hair and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "We're done, alright? This is done now." Luna opened her mouth to complain that Discord started it, but the words died in her throat as she received a death glare from her mother.

The rain had stopped pouring shortly before their fights had begun, but the storm left a cold chill in the air. "You either come inside with me, peacefully, or you stay out here, in the cold. Do you understand?" The others all nodded with wide eyes.

Flicking her wrists, all the tree roots returned to the ground, freeing their trapped prey. Everfree limped over to the cabin, inspecting the door. Not broken, just slammed open. She stood in the doorway as she scoured the queue of people, ponies and draconequus which entered, heads all turned down as she glared at them from above.

Realising they Maisie didn't want mud all over her furniture, she gestured the various creatures to the sink to scrub off their grime. A small giggle broke out as she watched Luna try to function a human-made appliance. Before long, everyone was laughing, at silly things, or little moments from their fights.

"So you throw pies, huh?" Adrian asked Discord, a large toothy grin on his bearded face as the god of chaos nodded, summoning one such pie in front of him, and instead of pelting it at the nearest pony, sharing its slices amongst the group. Everfree watched from the doorway, her scowl not leaving her face as she headed to the sink to wash herself off.

"You ponies are ravenous, you know that?" Maisie said, snorting at the memory of various artillery-like pinecones which had come dangerously close to her during the tussles with her own siblings. Luna looked at her with pride in her eyes, pointing her muzzle to the ceiling as she did a fake bow.

"I saw the moves you were doing on Everfree, now those were certainly more wild," Celestia retorted seeing the gnawing of teeth and scratching of nails.

"Oh, Everfree, huh? She claim that one all for herself?" Maisie began to joke but was shut down by a firm voice coming from the kitchen behind her.

"Don't start," Winry said, finally washing the final piece of muck off the back of her thighs.

The group fell into an uneasy silence, feeling that a lecture was coming in at any moment. The Equestrian side of the party looked up at the plaque on the wall, and Discord let out a small chuckle. "Loving Sister? Feel like changing that one?" Adrian opened his mouth, his own grin forming-

"Discord! Don't. Start." Winry firmly shut down the matter.

The group remained in silence, quietly eating a custard pie as the adult woman stood in front of them all, standing in front of the fireplace. From the others' perspective, her head was perfectly in between her mother's and father's names. Her face was cold.

"Firstly, Maisie, what the hell were you thinking just attacking me? Yeah, I get the joke was stupid and in bad taste, but Jesus, H. CHRIST! A little warning next time?!" She turned to the ponies and the draconequus. "And you three, what the HELL happened out there? I said I would make a signal when it was all clear, and instead, you three are FIGHTING? I raised you better."

Adrian cocked an eyebrow, 'raised?'

Maisie spoke up first, some challenge returning to her voice, "A little warning? Do you know how long it's been since we've seen you?! And you play a prank!"

Everfree rushed over to her, gripping the handrests of the chair she was sitting in, looming over her sister, baring her teeth. "Not. A. Single. Day. Not a single day goes by without me thinking about how long it's been! I thought you were dead! I thought I was the only human on this PLANET! I wanted to have a fun moment with my baby brother and sister!" she practically screamed into her face.

"It wasn't fun," Maisie replied with a huff. Everfree let go of her grip on the chair and sighed.

"Alright, I know, I'm sorry. It was stupid." The adult admitted. She stroked her sister's face, wiping away some of the dirt she didn't clean off properly. Maisie unconsciously leaned into the touch, soaking up the feeling.

"You three," The spirit span on her heels, heading towards her adopted children, who all reeled back at her approach. "What happened?"

"W-Well, you see-" Discord began, being cut off by the oldest Alicorn sister,

"Luna and Discord, they -" the youngest of the trio chimed in, cutting off her sister,

"Discord was being annoying!" she yelled, pouting her lips.

"Ignore him! You've been doing it for centuries, gods, by now you need to just learn to get along, both of you!" She turned to Celestia, "And what were you doing, were you trying to break up the fight or escalate it?"

Celestia blushed as she turned away, not having a good answer to say, and instead resorted to; "I'm sorry, mother."

Adrian's eyes shot up, 'raised, mother? Something's not adding up.'

"Uhh, Winnie?" Adrian meekly asked, raising a hand.

"What?!" Everfree said on instinct, realising that the boy hadn't really done anything other than actually break up the fight and hold his sister down. She calmed herself, "Sorry, Adri, what?"

"How long have you been here?" he asked, and his sister next to him looked at him curiously, before realising his train of thought - they were always good at that as kids, knowing what the other was thinking.

"...How do you mean?" Winry asked, her anger melting away as it was replaced with confusion.

"Well, that Princess, there," he gestured to Celestia, "called you mother, and earlier you mentioned you raised those three. I ain't well-versed in Equestrian history, but I know for a fact that those three, they're old. So, how old are you?"

Winry Winters Everfree's mind lurched, she couldn't comprehend what her brother was saying. "... how do you mean?" she parroted.

"Ugh, Winnie, how long have you been here?" Maisie asked bluntly, growing impatient with her sister's ignorance.

"Uhh, I lost track some time ago but it's near the ballpark of two thousand years, give or take a couple hundred," Winry stated, the Equestrians behind her knew she was old, but never was given a concrete number, and shared looks and quiet gasps.

The Everfree siblings all stared at each other with uncomfortable expressions. Adrian's eyes were wide as dinner plates, and his bearded mouth dropped open. Maisie's eyes shrunk to pinpricks, and she instinctually brought her fingers to her mouth to gnaw on.

"...Adrian, why? Is that not the same for you?" Winry asked, she got closer to him and put her hands on his shoulders as she shook him back and forth. "Adri, how long have you been here?" She turned to her sister, "Mai, answer me, please, one of you!"

"Twenty years."

Winry's eyes shot to her brother, begging him to repeat himself.

"We've only been here twenty years, Winnie."

A skull-splitting headache ruptured through Everfree's brain as she collapsed to the ground.

Deep in Everfree's forest, in the thick of some of the densest cursed foliage, a deep ravine opened up, threatening to swallow the trees.

Author's Note

Twenty years vs almost two thousand. How has the poor woman not gone insane? Do we know for a fact that isn't? I don't know... (I do)

Also, Adrian has had dreams and visions of Everfree's masked form, I'm totally sure that won't be important at any point.

I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, especially the fight scenes, recalling my own clashes with my siblings in the past - and what's more fun than a family dynamic? Well, most things, really, but hey.

So, reunited, from one human to three, and no children, to five. Also for how depressed Everfree has been in the past, does anyone seem to notice how many friends she actually has? Almost like the powers of depression cloud your vision and make you blind to such things.

Hey Ho, hope you enjoyed the longer chapter, wrote this on a complete all-nighter by accident, so any and all errors, please inform me in the comments below. Or just say hi. Whatever floats your boat.

Flawed Legacy

"Wake up, sleepyhead"

'Five more minutes...'

"Winrryyy~"

'Please...'

"C'mon girl, it's time for your medicine."

Winry finally submitted, and cracked her eyes open - blinking several times to remove the fuzziness from her vision. She was in her childhood bedroom, her blinds closed - blocking the blaring sunlight from daring to enter. She moaned as her raging migraine struck deep inside of her head.

The woman above her cooed, laying her warm palm on Winry's cheek. Creeping in through the doorway, the delicate notes of a guitar being strung invaded her ears. Winry turned her head, seeing the glowing face of her mother, one hand upon her skin, the other holding a fizzing glass of water.

Winry pushed herself up as well as she could, but ultimately relented as her mum helped her lean against the headrest of her bed, pushing the cold glass to her lips as she drank. She gulped ravenously, water seeping out the sides down her chin, it was like thirst had been the only thing she had ever known.

Her mother laughed, urging her to slow down, letting her daughter take the glass from her grip. One hand went up to her forehead, feeling the heated sweating skin beneath her palm, and the other rested atop the girl's shoulder. Soon enough, the cup was empty and was placed on the bedside table, next to Winry's phone.

"W-wheres Adrian and Maisie?" the girl moaned, letting her eyes rest on her mum's beautiful ebony skin, weakly pushing a hand up to run it through her frizzy hair.

"Oh honey, ever the worrier," Sarah Everfree softly said, ignoring the tugging and pulling of her hair, "They're outside, Adri found a beatle and Mai's playing house."

"C-Celestia, Luna?" Winry asked, looking up at her mum's hazel eyes.

"They're here too, they're downstairs worrying about you. I think Dad is playing some music for them." She replied, not removing her hands from her daughter.

"Discord?"

"Dissy is exploring, such a curious little boy, I'm glad you found him." Her mother planted a kiss on Winry's cheek, beginning to get up, gesturing her to follow.

The girl moaned as she tried to get up, feeling her head pound as she moved it. Falling back onto her cushion, she whimpered. "Mum, it hurts..."

"I know, honey. But let's be strong, for them, ok?" Sarah's hand reached out, and Winry grasped it, feeling her mother's soft fingers curl around her appendage. The daughter weakly got up, as her mother put her arm around her shoulder, helping her to walk.

"I-I don't know what's happening, Mum."

"Shh, that's ok. You don't need all the answers, Winnie. Let's go downstairs.

Sitting by her father's feet were two small pony foals, one white, the other a dark navy blue. Their eyes were wide as they heard the man play his guitar, and moan when he stopped. Following his eyes, they found Winry being led down the stairs by the older woman.

"Finally up?" Isiah asked, rushing over to help the two, leading them to the couch, "I tried saying hello earlier, but you've been out cold all day, hun."

"I'm sorry, Dad," Winry said, begging her mother with pleading eyes for another glass of water - which she quickly received.

"Nothing to be sorry for, Winnie. We all just want to make sure you're doing ok." on queue, the two fillies jumped up on either side of the sofa, resting their small heads on Winry's lap - who slowly started to stroke their coats. "These little ones have been a joy, it's a shame the little boy flew off before I could pull out the old guitar."

"We want ukielaylay!" Luna called out, blowing air into her cheeks as she pouted. Isiah laughed, a deep bellow from his belly, as he bent down to ruffle her mane.

"When everyone's home, I'll play, ok?" the small dark filly's eyes glistened, sparkling with excitement. Celestia's own drooped, almost falling asleep on the warm lap of the older girl in the room.

"Dad, what's going on? I'm so confused, and my head..." Winry moaned as the pounding started again.

"You heard your mother, hun, it's ok to not know all the facts," much to her disappointment, the girl accepted the words. Focusing on her two children on her lap, scratching their ears and grooming their little wings. "You've done a good job with them, you know."

Sarah chimed in from behind the sofa, running a brush through Winry's razzled, untamed hair, "We're so proud of you, honey."

Tears swelled up in the girl's eyes, fogging up her vision. She blinked hard, trying to get them out, but stopped as her father ran his hand underneath them, removing some of the tears with a thumb. The backdoor crept open, and standing at the entrance were three young children, all caked in mud or sand. Sarah tsked with a smile, "Now how did that happen?"

"Maisie threw mud at me!" cried Adrian, his cheeks puffy as they glowed red. The accused huffed, looking away as she crossed her arms.

"He tried putting a bug on me!" She exclaimed into her arms, not looking anyone in the eyes.

"Come along, you two, your sister's here. Let's be good, for her?" Sarah said, halting her brushing as she looked down at the girl, who was staring wide-eyed at the trio.

A teenage Discord stood behind them with an embarrassed smile, rubbing his hands together, his proportions were awkward - more than usual, and his trademark goatee was missing, replaced by a smooth chin to his pony head.

The three entered, all sitting beside the girl or the sleepy fillies. Sarah sat on the floor in front of them, as Isiah pulled his chair forward, bringing a ukelele off the wall. "Together again, let's get started?" the man asked, his hair a pushed-back blonde, traces of their bleaching of age. His beard, almost entirely white and cleanly cut, curved upwards at his lips as he smiled.

As he strummed out a tune, Winry looked to her mother, who sat crossed-legged as she moved her body side-to-side at the song. "Mum... how are you here?"

Sarah's eyes met with her daughter's, showing off a hint of sadness in those light brown pearls. "In all honesty, I don't know." She looked upon her other two children, smiling at them as they eagerly listened to their father play, "how old are they?"

Winry's breath hitched, choking on tears as she looked at the two. "Adri's five, and Maisie's seven." Her mother nodded thoughtfully, moving closer to touch the two's faces, who whined and contested.

"You never got to see them this old..." Winry cried, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. A gasp escaped her lips as she saw her mother was faring no better - crying all the same.

"I know, hun. I'm sorry we left you." She said, her bloodshot eyes meeting her daughters.

"That wasn't your fault, the police said... the p-police said it was an accident, you never saw the other car coming." Winry choked, another spike of pain shooting through her head.

"We still left you to look after these two, I can't even begin to think how hard that was on you. I'm sorry," her mother hugged her daughter's legs from the floor.

"We're both sorry, hun," her father said over his playing, and it was obvious he was crying too. The five children paid the two adults no mind, all happily hypnotised by the song filling the air.

The world shook, a deep rumble informing everyone that this dream was coming to an end.

"Mum, Dad, please, I don't want to go," Winry begged, looking at her two parents with desperate eyes.

"I'm sorry hun, it's time to get up." Her father said, standing up. The five other creatures in the room disappeared into clouds of mist, leaving just Winry, and her two parents alone in their house.

"You've got work to do, girl. We love you, and we're both so proud," her mother said with a shaky voice, bringing the teenage girl in front of her into a tight embrace - joined by her husband as he wrapped his arms around the pair, his head resting atop his daughters,

"You've done so many good things, but there's more to be done. I love you, hun," her father said from atop her head, his tears hitting her scalp.

"Mummy, Daddy, please... I can't do this alone again. I can't do this without you."

Her mother shushed her, breaking their embrace, and leaving her hands on Winry's shoulders, "You've done great so far, baby. And you're not alone, you've got your family."

Winry wiped her tears away as she nodded forcefully. Determination ignited in her expression. Her father chuckled, wiping his face, "There's that Everfree spirit."

The house rumbled, threatening to fall apart. Sarah gave her daughter one last kiss on the forehead, as she stepped back, holding her husband in her arms. Isiah's warm smile gave Winry all the hope she would need, and Sarah's warm touch and kiss brought forth the inspiration.

As she stood there, watching the world around her crumble away, her mother suddenly called out to her as she too began disappearing. "Winnie! Pick up your phone once in a while, someone's been trying to reach you!"

"...Huh?" Winry managed out before her house turned to nothing around her.

Adrian returned to the living room, planting himself down on the couch with a moan. He turned to the draconequus and white Alicorn at his side, "She's got a fever, but Mai and Luna are doing their best up there. Another hour or two and we'll swap shifts, alright?" Celestia and Discord nodded, worry still taking up most of their minds, but being calmed by the gentleman's words. "I'm Adrian, by the way, Adrian Everfree," he struck his hand out, which the two others shook.

"We heard, this is Discord, and I'm Princ-" she cut herself off, blushing at the use of her proper title, "I'm Celestia."

Adrian chuckled, "I know who you two are, Princess, would be difficult not to." he replied with mirth. The two smiled at him cheekily, and he turned his smiling head to the plaque on the wall, "And no, Discord, I don't think we'll be changing 'Loving Sister' anytime soon."

The draconic creature looked up at the wall too, and Celestia stared at his side profile, chewing on the words to say. Feeling her eyes on him, he turned to her quizzically.

"Everfree considers you a son, you know," she managed out, viewing his face shift through multiple emotions, surprise, regret, happiness, and finally, mischief. Celestia groaned inwardly, knowing what was about to come.

"So, that makes us brother and sister, you know," he replied, stabbing her in the side with an elbow. Celestia decided to groan outwardly this time, not giving him a proper response. From the side, Adrian chewed on his bottom lip.

"When did you meet Winnie?" he asked, probing into the conversation.

"Me and Luna met her as foals, we had run off from our caretaker and ended up angering a hydra, she found us crying as she warded it off," Celestia explained, smiling at the memory.

"She took me in when I showed up on her doorstep, fed me, housed me, and taught me how to use my powers," Discord explained, also losing himself in the past as a grin crept into his lips.

"Parents out the picture?" Adrian questioned. The two both nodded, "Funny, adopting some orphans, I'm sure Mai would get a kick out of two of them being black and white."

Upstairs, with furrowed brows and sweat trickling down their cheeks, were the three others, Luna pouring magic into the sleeping form of Everfree, while Maisie pinched and pulled out various spiky strings of magic, all various colours.

"She's full of this stuff," the human grunted out, using more force to tug out a particularly stubborn bit of rogue magic. The dark Alicorn could only nod, huffing as she focused her magic on wherever the girl's hands were on the body in front of them.

Finding a large pool near her sister's stomach, she placed both hands over the area, clasping her fingers into fists as she began to strain as she pulled with all her might. From within, a dark black ooze seeped out, causing the two others to gasp.

Maisie heaved, and Luna concentrated even further to aid her, and more and more of the gunk was extracted from within. Within minutes, the two were lying on the floor, panting beside one another as their backs touched. As soon as the corruption was taken from within her, Everfree's pained expression soothed to one of peaceful sleep, snoring slightly.

"Good work, Princess." Maisie huffed, reaching a fist behind her, which was bumped by Luna's hoof.

"You as well, Auntie," A loud snort came from behind the pony's back.

"I'm your Aunt, huh? That make me royalty too?" this time the laugh came from the Alicorn, and the two descended into a comfortable silence as they listened to the older woman's delicate snores.

There was a knock on the door as it was pushed open, with Adrian holding two cups of steaming tea, "Here, girls." Maisie reached out with a thankful smile, holding the hot cup in both hands as she began to sip from it. Luna raised an eyebrow at the man, tasting sugar in the beverage, "Your sister, she told me how you take it." Accepting the response, she began to drink.

Adrian sat by Everfree's side, his hand on her cheek. "Her fever broke? You two work quick," he said, looking over to the pony and human sitting back-to-back.

"Thank the Princess, couldn't have done it without her," the woman shrugged, looking away at the compliment.

"Nay, it was a team effort," Luna shot back, not letting Maisie escape.

"Yeah, well -" she was cut off by a loud gasping coming from the bed. Everfree lurched up, breathing through gritted teeth as she stared around the room she was in, before spotting her three viewers. Her eyes softened as she spotted Adrian, grabbing at him to pull him into a hug.

Luna and Maisie sprung up, running over to join the two. Underneath the three of them, they could hear Everfree sobbing. They tightened their embraces as the woman soaked their clothes or coats with snotty tears, not that any of them cared. Her cries rattled as she tried breathing deeply, her hands constantly moving as she felt the others around her.

When she began to slow, the others pulled away, all sitting close to the woman, Adrian on her left, Luna sitting on her legs, and Maisie to her right. Everfree's hands touched her siblings' cheeks, and she cooed softly. "You both look so much like Mum and Dad."

Maisie whimpered, her eyes tearing up. Adrian smiled and looked away, putting one of his hands to rest atop the other on his cheek, squeezing it.

"I... I need some fresh air, but we'll talk after, ok? There's a lot that needs to be said." Everfree said, trying to push herself up, causing the others to quickly scamper off the bed.

"Mother, surely you should rest a bit longer?" Luna urged, trotting over to allow the woman to put some of her weight on her back.

"No, I've rested long enough, let me figure out what's happening and we'll get to business." She said with a cold determination, her eyes locking onto the door of the upstairs bedroom with steely focus.

Discord and Celestia were both sitting awkwardly on the couch when they heard the scuffle coming from upstairs. Looking in its direction, they saw the door open as Everfree limped downstairs, her right side holding tightly to Luna's body, followed by the other two. Calling out, they rushed over, stopping at the bottom of the stairs.

"I'm ok, you two," Everfree stated, trying to soothe their anxious looks. "Everyone, sit down, I'm just going to go outside to catch my breath, we'll have a family meeting after - that includes you, Dis."

Everyone nodded, watching as the woman limped to the front door, holding onto her stomach. They shared worried and anxious looks as they heard her moan as she sat down on the front porch. "Do you think she'll be ok?" Luna asked.

"Just gotta give her some time, is all. She was like this when we were younger too, just needs a minute to think," Adrian replied, getting himself comfortable on the same chair as earlier. The rest joined in, Discord half sitting/ half floating on the other, while the two Princesses and the human shared the couch. The man gave his sister an amused smirk, "I told you it was a good idea for more furniture."

Maisie grumbled. Back when the two had started building these homes with the help of some griffins, paid with freshly hunted meat, she had insisted she hadn't needed as much furniture but wasn't around the workers as much to tell them so, feeling odd being in their presence. It wasn't that she didn't like them, but she couldn't bear to put up with their questions, and her brother was much better with them anyway.

Outside, Everfree sat, hugging her knees. Her stomach felt, odd. Not bad, but it was like her insides had been cleaned. Not used to the foreign feeling, she took some deep breaths to clear her mind. Her dream, if it even was a dream, stayed fresh in her mind.

Her parents were there, as were the rest of her family, living the life she wished she had. Comfy, serene, and at peace. Everfree's brows furrowed, recalling how their touch felt, and being able to recall every detail. Naturally, most memories had blurred inside of her aged mind, but some stayed fresh - protected by an unknown force.

In the waking hours of the day, she couldn't remember how her house looked, what her parents smelled like, or what clothes they wore. But in her restless dreams, it was all so clear, like it was only yesterday. She breathed into the cold air, watching her wispy breath wave around and rise to the starry sky above.

Her phone was mentioned. It had died on day two of her arrival and was at the bottom of a chest in her grove in her Forest. It had been nearly two millennia since she touched it, it must've been rusted and broken by now, but then, she was in a world of magic, they're probably ways to get around that issue - and then comes the power element, Equus didn't have modern electronics, as far as she had seen, but maybe Adrian could help? He seemed to have some type of electricity to him, and by starting low, they could find the right voltage required by slowly raising it until something happened.

So, back to the forest, see what's happening with that phone, and see if any of it correlates to anything she's been doing. Trying to cure the forest, or taking in lost strays, she didn't know, but her parent's words ran through her mind. Everfree sighed, repeating them out loud,

"You don't need all the answers, Winnie," she ran a hand through her hair, "At least, not right now."

'Ok, so. First, I go back inside, and I find out the extent of Adri's and Mai's powers, if they're anything like me, they're merely scraping the surface of their potential in their early years.' she shuddered, remembering the time difference, 'then, I tell them about my dream, or vision, or whatever that was, we go back to my place, find my phone, and go find out what I... we need to do.'

Not wanting to let go of our solitude for the moment, she allowed herself a moment of calm serenity. Listening to the nocturnal wildlife, as trees swayed in the wind. With her insides feeling the way they did, Everfree focused inside of herself, trying to see the damage.

There was none, if anything, it was like she had been fixed. For centuries, her powers had been weakened, for what she assumed was her time in her forest affecting her, absorbing its curses into her own body. But now, it was gone, a blockage being cleared. Some still lingered, but figured that what she had could be removed at a later point.

Testing the waters, she willed herself to change, first to the form of an ethereal cat (she felt like one at that moment, hiding away from social interaction while sitting on a porch), to then a corporeal one. No headache. She tried again, with a pony. First the ghostly form, and again to its green body magnificence. Everfree looked down at herself, she was fine, with no aches or pains. A smile crept onto her face.

Thinking of a much tamer joke to play on her siblings, Everfree went back to her cat form. A small lean little thing, all black fur with orange eyes which appeared to glow against her coat. An almost perfect recreation of a witch's cat, she thought. Stretching her feline body, she pawed the slightly ajar door and entered inside.

Adrian and Maisie looked towards the entrance, hearing the wind howl slightly louder as the door creaked open, expecting to see their sister in its frame, when finding no one, they looked downwards, seeing a black cat happily trot its way inside.

"You adopt a stray at some point, Mai?" Adrian asked, watching as it circled the sofa, and jumped onto its surface, purring as it sat down between the two Princesses, who were both awkwardly trying to get comfortable on its surface. Maisie shook her head, staring down at the thing.

The Equestrians said nothing, realising what was going on, and Luna began to stroke the cat, or as best she could with a hoof. It seemed to like the feeling though, yawning as it stretched its front two paws out, its claws coming out of their sheaths for a moment.

"Uhh, you guys know them?" the man asked, looking towards Discord as he had a mischievous look in his eyes, the draconequus didn't answer, choosing to smirk at the human. Celestia decided to open her mouth, that same look on her face as her brother.

"I believe we do, for quite some time really," she said, drinking up the expressions on the humans' faces, "it can be difficult to take care of sometimes though, always running off, you see." She got a smack to her hind leg by a paw for that comment.

Luna, wanting in on the fun, chimed in, "Wild little beast, barely listens to us. Though, it does have its merits," that cat meowed out loud, jumping to the floor, sitting down as its tail swished around. Maisie was about to reply but shut her mouth with a snap as she saw the cat become part cloud, to full cloud, to a human again, leaving her sister in its place, sitting cross-legged on the ground.

Maisie decided to throw a cushion at her giggling sister, hitting her in the face as she laughed harder. Before too long, the two women were laughing, getting over the bizarre sight, and the Equestrians looking at them warmly. Adrian grumbled, crossing his arms, "you guys got the best powers," he huffed.

Calming herself down, Everfree scooted herself over to be closer to her little brother, giving him a couple of condescending pats on the leg. "There there, Adri. But, that does bring me to my first discussion point - Maisie," she pointed at her sister on the couch, "What, to the best of your knowledge, is your power?"

"Uhh, I don't know, some type of magic thread thing? I can see the strings and usually manipulate them a bit." She explained, pulling forth a little pink strand from Celestia, letting it dance between her fingers, before entwining it with a thread of her own, making it double in size as she carest it back into the pony's side, who cooed at the sensation.

Everfree nodded, and turned to her brother, "And yours?"

Adrian's hands danced with little bolts of electricity, "I can play with lightning, and the rain, that's about It," he said, looking a bit glum as he mentally compared his powers to his siblings. Everfree stood up, her knees popping as she did so. Her face beamed brightly at the two of them, who were slightly unnerved at the expression.

"Ok, when I first came here, I thought my powers were just about plants, making them grow or wilt, but I realised they were so much more. I can talk to animals, become one, I can make life grow in the bleakest of places, can even force my voice into those around me. I can manipulate the earth by moving tree roots around, I could breathe life into creatures we once thought were fairytales!" Everfree exclaimed excitedly, bouncing in place a little bit as she thought of all the possibilities. The Equestrians, however, all shared a look. 'Breathing life into fairytales? Did Everfree make-'

"Are you just showin' off or what?" Adrian interrupted their thoughts, his thickskull not understanding what his older sister was saying.

"No, you moron, she's saying that what we have now isn't all there is," Maisie replied, fixing her brother with a scowl, who made a small expression as he realised what was being said. "So, like, my magic thread stuff, what's that about?"

"Think broader, not just one power, but what it could fall under! So, mine is plants, animals, and life - in general. That's nature, I have the powers of nature itself! Adri," she grabbed her brother's shoulders as she shook him back and forth, "Your rain powers, have you ever tried more? Making a cloudy day sunny, or bringing forth wind, heating or cooling the air around you?"

Adri blanked as his head was being tossed around in place, "I-uh, no, I just make it storm or not," he said, but as he looked down into his hands, he tried making them warm, and, just like that, the air around his hands shimmered with heat. "O-oh, my god!" He put a hand out, willing for a gust of air, and gasped as a strong current blew right at Discord.

"Hey! Watch where you aim that thing!"

"Adrian, think of the possibilities, let your imagination run wild! You can bring rain to lands wrought with drought, you could put out fires by cooling the air, hell - probably even removing the oxygen from it! Use a strong enough current and you could fly!" Everfree continued to bounce up and down and squealed as her brother smiled up at her, his eyes twinkling as he kept playing with the heat around his hands.

"Maisie!" who had an incredibly excited smile on her lips, prepared herself, "So magic threads, right? You can manipulate it, but to what extent, you gave Celestia some back," the older woman turned to her daughter, "how did it feel? do you feel stronger, more powerful?"

Celestia nodded, "Yes, it felt like my reserves were almost overflowing."

"Ah, Maisie, do you see?! Your power isn't just magical, it's Magic itself! Look, pull some from me, go on," Everfree placed your hands on either side of her chest, signalling the area for her sister to pluck from, who extracted a tiny thread, "More!" she pulled harder, extracting a thick green rope of energy, which seemed to branch off like a tree. Everfree panted, feeling herself grow a little weaker, but was no less deterred. "Ok, now focus on it, hard, make it tangible.

Maisie focused on the mass in front of her and gasped as she felt it begin to feel heavy in her hands. "Ok, now what?"

"Focus your mind, shape it, form it into a rope." a grunt of exertion, but then in the younger sister's hands was a coil of light green cable. "Good, good, now, tangle me!" her sister looked at her in confusion, "Ugh, you know, like a cowboy, lasso me!" Maisie stood up and shot the rope from her hands, willing it to snake its way around her sister's body, constricting as it trapped her in place, her lips upturned into a huge grin as she excitedly looked to her brother and sister. "Amazing, Mai! Now, give it back."

Maisie's hands danced as she pulled at the rope from a distance, willing it back into her sister's chest, who began to look more livelier - if that was even possible. Everfree clapped her hands, "You can make anything you want, give strength to those who are weak, take power from those who are strong, enough focus you can pull magic from the air and ground around us! Bring forth enough, make it solid, and stand atop it, you can fly right alongside your brother!"

As she watched her two siblings practice their powers, she stood up straight, trying to collect yourself, "But, the most important lesson, is that with great power,"

"Comes great responsibility, thanks, Uncle Ben." Maisie cut her off, the Equestrians raised their eyebrows, Everfree had used that same phrase during their lessons, did they have a magical great-uncle they did not know of? Shaking off the thought, they were all ecstatic at seeing their old teacher relive the past, gleefully getting excited over other ponie- people's potential.

"I'm being serious, if I get another super-villain in the family, I will hear about it, and there will be a reckoning!" All eyes started to stare at Luna and Discord, who both sheepishly avoided eye contact and looked anywhere but at the other occupants in the room.

Everfree clapped her hands together, ready to transition to the next topic, "Alright, that's the good news, but unfortunately, that may be where it ends," The five creatures around the woman leaned in, preparing themselves, "When I was out cold, I had... a dream, or... a vision. It was hard to tell which, but what's important is what I was told."

Luna's interest was piqued, she had sensed no dreams coming from the woman, though she was deep in concentration on trying to heal her.

"Mum, and Dad. They spoke to me."

"Winnie, don't be stupid," Maisie said, her face beginning to sour.

"Mai, I know what it sounds like, but like that's the strangest thing to occur, hell, your brother can fly for Pete's sake," her sister opened her mouth to reply, but closed it, not being able to properly come up with a retort. "What we discussed wasn't important, but they mentioned my phone, it's long dead, but they told me to look at it, that someone has been trying to reach me. We need to find out who."

Maisie nodded, she didn't know why she and her siblings were here, but if there was a purpose, she wanted to know about it. Adrian was a bit more conflicted, however. "Winnie, we live here, I have friends in a town nearby, I can't just leave."

"I'm not asking you to move out and live with me, hell no, do you think I want your beard hairs all over my stuff? Just a little adventure, like old times." Everfree replied. 'Adventure', their older sister would take them through the woods when their parents were busy, making a makeshift map as they trekked up a hiking path, picking up sticks to use as canes, or finding cool-looking rocks to show off to their parents. Adrian thought for a moment but decided that he didn't really have anything better to do, and he could always come back.

"Girls," Everfree span on her heels to talk to her daughters, "You have duties, Canterlot needs at least one of you to function. Both of you, go home for tonight and get some rest. Tomorrow morning one of you meet with me in the forest, you remember how to call me. You'll do a daily rotation if it takes that long. No arguing, no fighting, let's just get it done. Discord, go be with Fluttershy, she's probably going crazy wondering what the hell has been going on lately."

The Equestrians nodded, though they weren't exactly happy about being excluded, they realised that they couldn't just stop everything to go on some trip, not like this one. "For tonight, I'll rest up here, teach these two," gesturing a thumb in the direction of the two other humans in the room, "how to fly, and we'll make our way south together in the morning."

The group all nodded, she wouldn't say it out loud, but Maisie was happy she would get to have a sleepover with her big sister. Before Celestia and Luna teleported home, they pulled their mother to the side to ask a question which had been burning into them.

"Mother, you said you could breathe life into fairytales, ponies, did you -" Celestia was cut off.

"No, I never played a hand in pony affairs, they were here long before I was," Everfree answered, knowing she should have explained that closer to her original statement.

Luna asked, "So then, what?"

"Ever wonder why me and the dragons are so close, or why minotaurs look like humans? Most of the more bizarre wildlife in the forest is mine too, but they all have free will, I do not own them, I just played a part in their creation." the woman looked at the expressions on the pony's faces, seeing they weren't satisfied with the answer, "I was young, stupid, and lonely, this was long before I ever met you two. I haven't done it since. Promise."

Nodding at her response, the two ponies and the draconequus said their goodbyes and teleported back to their homes. Once the three humans were alone, Maisie headed to the kitchen, pulling out the bowl of berries from earlier that day. "So, hungry?"

Everfree chuckled, "Only if you let me bake."

Derpy hadn't been sleeping very well. It had been some time since she last saw her spirit friend, and while that brief meeting was nice, it didn't alleviate her worries. Dinky was currently in her room napping, but when she was awake, she would constantly be asking when they were going to see Everfree next, a question that the grey pegasus didn't have an answer for.

Realising she was just lying in bed thinking, Derpy decided to head downstairs for a drink. Carefully sneaking past her daughter's room to not wake her, she flew down the stairs to make herself a glass of water. She sipped on it as she planted herself down at the kitchen table, reading some of the local newspaper to pass the time. Among various other articles about nothing of significance, one caught her eye.

'Loud rumble from within the Everfree, beast or earthquake?'

'Local earth ponies reported to have felt a disturbance from within the cursed forest by the town of Ponyville, reporters could find no one to brave its depths to find out whether it was a Ursa Major or seismic activity. Elements of Harmony have nothing to say on the matter.'

Derpy put the paper down, feeling her blood pressure go through the roof. She groaned outwardly, something was happening and she didn't know what to do. She picked up her glass again, about to exchange the water for something a bit stronger, she was cut off by a soft tapping at her door. Wondering who would be calling at this hour, she trotted over, opening the door to a bizarre sight.

Discord was launched over at her doorstep, an almost shy, embarrassed look in his eyes.

"Uhh... Hi?" Derpy said, not knowing if this was actually happening.

"Miss Hooves? I saw your light on, and figured you'd be awake, can I come in? It's important." he asked, his weird expression persisting.

Derpy nodded as she moved to the side, keeping an eye on the draconequus as he entered. She didn't not trust him, but like most citizens of the town, they had a poor history with the fellow. "My daughters upstairs, so try not to be loud, alright?"

"Yes, I apologise for barging in, but it's about Lady Everfree," the grey pegasi's eyes went wide, suddenly a lot more accommodating of the creature knowing that he may have some answers to what's been clouding her thoughts. She gestured him towards a seat in the kitchen as she sat opposite, refilling her glass of water as she made another for her guest.

"Is she ok? She came by a couple of days ago but she didn't say anything other than she was going to Canterlot, but I haven't heard anything since." Derpy asked, leaning over the table slightly as she probed for information.

"Yes, yes, she's ok, doing much better, in fact," the pony sighed, visibly relaxing, "she doesn't know I'm here, she had mentioned you in passing, and I figured I would do her a favour while she's preoccupied." Derpy raised an eyebrow, gesturing him to continue.

"A lot has come to light the last few days. The Princesses did some voodoo magic to allow Lady Everfree to see her home, where she originally hails from, and they discovered that not only was she stolen from her planet, but that her siblings were too." Discord explained, reading from a sudden notebook that appeared in his hand

"Woah, woah, slow down. She's an alien?"

"It isn't obvious?" he replied, looking upon the mare in bewilderment, saying something inaudible under his breath, he continued, "Yes, she's an alien, not the invading type either, though I'm hoping you already knew that."

Seeing where Discord gets the representation of being an annoyance comes from, Derpy nodded with a roll of her eyes. "And she has siblings?"

"Yes, a younger brother and sister. The reason why my Lady has been away for so long is that she has been searching for them, and that earlier today," he craned his head a full 180 degrees to check the clock behind him, "yup, still today," his head turned back making the rotation a complete 360, making the pony recoil in disgust, "she found them both, the stories not yet complete, and they will be pursuing a task for the foreseeable future. I figured that considering how tunnel-visioned the woman gets, she may forget to speak with you, and I wanted to be granted some points for doing this."

Derpy absorbed the information, ignoring the draconid's comments about doing this to get in the woman's good graces. Discord silently chuckled to himself behind a raised clawed appendage as he saw the mare's eyes point in different directions while she focused.

"Well... thanks. You didn't have to do this but I appreciate it." Derpy finally said after some moments of silence. Discord mock bowed.

"That is all I have, so I bid you adieu." He snapped his hands, whisking himself away, leaving the mare in her kitchen alone to chew on her thoughts.

Feeling less worry in her heart, she poured the two full cups of water into a nearby plant pot and headed to bed. She was able to rest peacefully that night.

The sun had risen above the crest of the horizon, filling the pine forest with the scent of the morning as steam began to rise off the trees. Birds chirped as squirrels scampered up and down. It would have been a peaceful occurrence if it wasn't interrupted by an almost routine scream every five minutes.

Adrian had managed to fall from the sky again, crashing into several branches as he groaned from the dirt, looking up to see Everfree squatted next to him, and Maisie floating above him on a floating pink surfboard. His middle sister held her stomach as she continued to laugh, with the eldest smirking down at him.

"See, the trick is to keep doing it once you're in the sky, Adri," Everfree stated helping her little brother up. He groaned as he felt his back ache from the several falls he had received in the past hour.

"Heard you the last six times," Adrian grumbled, dusting his knees off. In truth, he was petrified of heights, and getting off the ground was fine enough, but keeping that momentum when he was a couple of hundred metres in the air was where he found difficulty.

"Close your eyes, feel the wind underneath you, have it pushing you upwards- at an angle, like this," His sister tilted her hand 45 degrees, "Don't focus on what's beneath you, focus on what's ahead, and if you can't, then close your eyes, just focus entirely on the wind and the feeling inside of you."

Nodding his head, Adrian flexed his hands, pointing downwards forcing the wind to lift him, he rocketed upwards and began to angle his body so his stomach was pointing to the earth below. Following his sister's directions, he pushed forward and managed to fly forward, starting slow and gradually picking up the pace. His eyes were clamped shut, not wanting to see anything around him.

"There you go!" Everfree yelled from the ground, causing her brother to look down at her, and then begin to lose control as he tried to turn. The woman winced as he flew straight into a tree's trunk. Jogging over, she looked down at his groaning form. She looked to the sky, "Mai, you got the hang of flying quick, how'd you decide on the surfboard?"

Wiping her eyes from the tears which had formed from her laughing too hard, Maisie yelled back, "One of Adrian's stupid comic books! A silver dude was surfing on the cover, thought it looked cool." She shrugged, doing some tricks in the air.

Everfree clicked her fingers, a new plan formulating in her head. Waiting for her brother to get back up and wipe the blood from his nose, she put her hands on his shoulders and began, "Adri, you read comic books, remember?" he nodded, "Ok, did you have any on Iron Man?"

"One or two, Dad always got me more Fantastic Four..." he replied, rubbing his red cheek.

"Ugh, I don't remember those guys... What about the movie, I know Dad had you watch that when we were kids." Adrian closed his eyes, recalling memories of the family all on the couch as their dad put on his film of choice on movie night.

"Yeah, vaguely, he was the red and yellow guy?" Everfree blanked, remembering that Adrian was very young when their dad was still around.

"Well, yeah, I think he was red and yellow. Maisie! Was Iron Man red and yellow?" she yelled to the sky.

"Red and Gold!" came a reply from the trees.

"Whatever, Adrian, so Iron Man, he had little jets on his hands and feet, right?"

"...yeah?" He replied, remembering some incredibly foggy details.

"Alright, so do that, instead of using wind around you to push you up, push it from your hands and feet to propel you forward." She did a mock presentation by standing straight, putting her arms to her side with her palms pointed directly down.

"I'll give it a shot, can one of you try to catch me this time?" he asked, grumbling when Everfree shook her head.

"Hey, I wanna show off how I fly once you two get the hang of it," she grinned.

"Let me guess, a bird?"

Everfree blushed and looked away, kicking a rock by her feet and mumbling, "It's cooler than that."

Adrian rolled his eyes but tested out the new method, doing a strong initial burst from beneath his feet and hands, and waving his arms a little while in the sky - before getting the hang of floating by pointing his arms in any direction he was falling towards.

Maisie flew up beside him, circling him atop her board. "Looking good, Adri, let's go forwards a bit." They slowly crept forward as they heard their older sister clap and whoop from the forest below.

"Ugh, this is like learning to ride a bike all over again." Adrian moaned out loud.

"Don't think you ever got out of training wheels." his sister replied, jabbing him in the side, almost causing him to lose balance.

"Hey! This is hard!" Testing his new technique, he flew forward, feeling the wind against his face, before putting his arm out to the side, making him turn around. He floated in place, a triumphant expression on his face. Maisie flew over, smiling the whole time.

Both of their minds were suddenly invaded by their sister's voice.

Go up. Above the clouds.

Maisie clutched her head in her hands. "Ugh! That's what that feels like?" She asked her brother, who looked back at her with a smirk.

"Told you it was invasive." He tilted his head up warily, and propelled himself higher, his sister following. They gasped as they saw the world from up above, the rolling fluffy fields of white and grey. The blue sky shone as the sun continued to rise higher.

"So, wanna bet on how Everfree's gonna fly with us?" Maisie asked, not letting her vision leave the sight ahead of her.

"Gotta be a bird, right? I don't know of any flying plants."

"That seems kind of bor-" A deep rumble of thunder interrupted the two, and they both looked down in shock as the biggest bird they had ever seen split the clouds below. It looked like a raven but was several times bigger. Its eyes were an electric blue and seemed to almost let off little bolts of lightning.

If they stood atop each other, they doubted they would be the same height as just one wing.

"Show-off," Maisie muttered, crossing her arms.

Everfree wanted to test one more thing, now that the headaches were apparently gone, she wondered if she could communicate while shifted. She tried probing her siblings' minds, and finding that she couldn't, she huffed - releasing a very bizarre noise from her beak.

Quickly thinking on her toes, she shifted into a pony, flaring her Alicorn wings wide to keep her from plummeting.

"The image of you being those Princesses' mum is starting to make sense," Adrian jested, wobbling mid-air.

Ignoring his comment, Everfree spoke, "I can't communicate as an animal, it was a long shot anyway, so this is the last I'll be able to talk unless we take a break."

"Thank god."

Fixing her sister with a glare, she continued, "So, you two, follow me, if there's any emergencies, make some noise or something. I'll slow down."

"Slow down? Who says that you'll be the fastest here?" Maisie replied, challenge in her tone, and mirth in her eyes. Everfree smirked.

"Can't you just stay as the pony?" Adrian asked, looking up and down her form.

"Wings these small won't be as fast, and I like being the bird, alright?" Everfree huffed, blowing her ethereal mane from her forehead. Hearing no further snarky comments or questions, she flew higher and shifted back into the thunderbird. Fixing her sister with a look, she flapped her wings, causing a deep rumble beneath the clouds as she rocketed off in the direction of her forest grove.

Maisie's jaw dropped, and groaned, "Again, such a show-off," she quickly followed, leaning her body forward as her board cut through the sky.

"Guys? Still learning how to fly, y'know." Adrian said to no one. Realising he was talking to himself and getting left behind, he channelled more wind from his palms and quickly caught up with his middle sister as they followed the massive beast ahead of them.

Luna had won the game of tic-tac-toe, forcing Celestia to have to fulfil her duties over the day court, much to her complaints. She giggled as she packed a saddlebag, remembering Celestia's face as she realised she lost - and how quickly. She packed an empty journal, as well as a quill and bottled ink, to try and jot down any notes to relay to her sister, as well as document the day. Wanting to express her gratitude, she also packed a gift for each of the siblings.

A necklace of a crescent moon she was gifted by a particularly pushy noble trying to 'join the royal family', a bag which could hold infinite items without getting any heavier - modified to fit over a human's shoulders and an axe. To be honest, she didn't know what to gift stallions, and from what she could remember, they liked weapons. And her Uncle looked like a lumberjack, so it made sense in her mind.

Getting some breakfast from the royal kitchens, and asking for three more to go, she headed off, teleporting to Ponyville's outskirts. She trotted into the forest, and called out, "Oly Oly Oxen Free."

And deep from within, the forest replied,

We're all free in the Everfree.

Appearing a couple of moments later was Everfree, a warm smile on her face as she hugged her daughter, and led them both through the woods. Luna had been in her grove as a foal, but couldn't recall its whereabouts or what it looked like. To pass the time, the two chatted as they drudged through the underbrush.

"Tia upset that it's not her here?"

"Very, but she knew that she couldn't delay day-court. How were the lessons in flight?"

"About the same as when I did it with you two, though Maisie got the hang of it very quick." Luna hummed, recalling the various crashes they had trying to follow her tutor's lessons as she flew beside them in her Alicorn form.

Before they knew it, they were at the grove and saw Maisie and Adrian snooping through all their sister's things. She yelled out, causing them to rush back, exclaiming that neither of them was doing anything. Rolling her eyes, Everfree continued forward, leaning under her bed, and pulling out an ancient wooden chest, made seemingly from a tree being grown into the shape of one, instead of carved.

Before she opened it, Luna made a noise and put her muzzle into her saddlebags. The three humans looked at each other with different funny-looking expressions as the mare pulled out another small bag from within.

"I come baring gifts!" the Alicorn exclaimed, a big smile on her face as she looked up at the three taller figures around her. All of them smiled as they laughed together.

"Christmas already?" Maisie asked, laughing a little harder when Luna stared at her with a confused expression.

"Nay, I know not of this Chris Mass you speak of, but these are for your hospitality!" She snuck her hoof into the bag and stuck a tongue out, trying to locate the object within, wincing as she found its sharp end, she pulled forth an axe, causing Everfree's smile to falter, and the other two to grow larger.

"Woah, Princess, taking out the threats to the throne?" Maisie continued, and Luna chuckled as she handed it to the youngest of the trio, blushing as he accepted it with curiosity.

"I apologise if it's not to your liking, Uncle."

"Uhh, no, this is good, thanks!" He gave it a couple of experimental swings, causing the three others to flinch and duck. He put it down on the ground as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly at the glares he received from his sisters.

"The bag itself is yours, Aunt. It can hold anything you desire, without gaining any unwanted weight." She hooved the bag over, as Maisie gave it a couple of experimental bounces, feeling that there was some weight to it, but one that ensured it would stay by her side instead of flapping in the wind. She ruffled the pony's mane.

"Oh, neat! What happens if I throw Adrian into it?" the man in question reached down slightly for the handle of his axe at the threat.

"I would recommend you didn't, it is like flying in a bottomless pit." Luna shivered at the memory. She turned to Everfree, "Mother, I apologise that this may not be as extravagant as your siblings' gifts," She took the necklace from her standard saddle bag and flew behind the woman to clasp it around her neck.

"Nonsense, Lulu, this is beautiful, thank you," Everfree said as she touched the design, curving her fingers up and down the obsidian design.

"Hey, matches with your tattoo!" Maisie said, gesturing towards her sister's chest. The woman blushed, not thinking her sister had seen them that morning. "Hey, not my fault you sleep topless."

"I'm not wearing a bra to bed and my only clothes were robes older than this kingdom. And Adri was sleeping downstairs!" Everfree explained, blushing as she crossed her arms.

Luna looked up at her thoughtfully, she knew what a tattoo was, her Mother was covered in them, and she had even seen her give one to herself when she was younger, with a sharp rock or stick and some homemade dyes made from berries or plants. She didn't know of any similar to the moon design though. "Truly, you have this design on your body?"

Everfree looked down at her, before glaring over at her younger brother to turn around, who did so without complaint. Everfree pulled down her shirt, the comfortable loungewear she had worn to her various picnics with the Hooves', and revealed the two designs, one that was a black and skin-colour copy of Celestia's cutie mark on her right breast, and on her left was a crescent moon, surrounded by a black cloud - as close to Luna's as she could get. The parts which were different colours were either left devoid of the ink or were done in smaller dots.

Luna had to look away, fearing her Mother would see the tears swelling in her eyes.

"Yeah they hurt, a lot, but, I like the design," Everfree said, letting go of her collar, and prompting her brother to turn back around. "Again, thank you for the gift, Lulu, we're all very thankful."

"Thanks, Princess," Maisie said, shifting her vision towards the wooden container in front of them. "Let's get to work."

Everfree nodded, pushing her palm against the lid, and stepped back as the roots keeping it locked slithered back into the base, a sight Adrian was still grossed out by. Once opened, Everfree began digging through it. The raincoat, hoodie and jeans she had arrived in, which were now much too small to fit into, were placed to the side, an elastic hairband which was frayed and threatened to snap at the slightest stretch, and some over-the-ear headphones, which Luna took a keen inspection to.

At the very bottom were two items, the phone they were looking for, and a wallet. Maisie gasped as she looked at it, recognising it immediately.

"That's Dad's wallet..." she whispered, causing Adrian to take a closer look, but not quite recognising it.

"Yeah, the hospital gave it to me after they were declared... y'know," Everfree said, picking it up, and rubbing her thumb against the leather, "I kept it, figured I wanted a piece of him nearby at all times, and it had all the cards in it already."

She opened it, knowing what she was about to see. Inside were various plastic cards, a couple of notes of her home's currency, and her driver's license. She let out a dry laugh as she looked at it, seeing how young and serious she looked in the photo. "Hey, Lulu, look at this," she flipped the wallet in her direction.

The pony looked at the object with curiosity, before letting her eyes land on the picture in front of her. Her eyes widened as she bit back a laugh. Staring back at her was the same woman as in front, much younger, and with a complete deadpan expression. Her hair framed her face, missing its signature white streaks, and her eyes were a lot less green, though from how grainy the picture looked, it may have just been from that.

"This is a photograph, yes?" Luna asked, having to look away to not laugh.

"Mmhmm, done by something a bit different to the cameras in Equestria though, yours are... primitive, by the standard we had back home. It will be easier to show you in a moment." Everfree said as she thumbed her ID out of its pocket, revealing what was underneath. She handed the little plastic card to her brother, letting him look at her, thinking he would enjoy seeing the face he remembered most from his childhood - which he did.

Maisie looked over her sister's arm, seeing that there was a folded piece of paper where the license just was, and pointed at it wordlessly. Everfree took a moment, taking some deep breaths, as she nervously plucked it out with shaking fingers. She looked down at her sister, who looked so young at that moment. "It's... It's been a very long time since I looked at this."

She carefully unfolded it, and she sat down on the bed beside her, one hand holding the paper, as the other came to cover her mouth, trying to silence her sobs - which it couldn't do.

The three others all moved to be beside her, sitting on the bed, either next to the crying woman, or looking over her shoulder. All three gasped as they saw what was causing such a reaction.

A heavily creased photograph, but still retaining most of the picture clearly. There were five humans, a young toddler, with light-black skin and black hair, a young white girl with a gap tooth smiling at the camera, and a teenager, with long black hair which curled upwards at various points.

Standing behind the three of them was a black woman, her hair in a frizzy bun atop her head, hugging the infant, and a white man, with blonde hair and a cared-for beard, who was on one knee, one arm around the young girl's shoulders, and his other around the teenager's waist.

All five were smiling at the camera, and written in pen in a space above them all, was 'The Everfrees' with a small love heart doodled.

Everfree couldn't take it, the two adults, her parents, looked just like them in her dream from yesterday. She had thought she had tamed her grief a millennia ago, but it was evident that she had just buried it, and it had never gone away. She sobbed, as her siblings and daughter hugged her. "I-I'm sorry-"

"Just shut up," Maisie said, tears strolling down her face. Adrian hugged a little tighter but said nothing.

Calming her breathing, Everfree wiped her snotty nose with a hand, something everyone decided not to comment on at the moment. "Dad kept it in his wallet. He had it over his ID, so he could look at it while he was at work."

"I don't remember this photo being taken," Adrian admitted, feeling sadness creeping into him.

"I'm not surprised, you were only three, Mai was five, and I was sixteen." Everfree laid a finger over her parents' faces, giving them a soft caress. "They both died four months after this was taken."

Luna absorbed all the information she could. Looking over at the photo, she stared deep into her mother's teenage eyes. Seeing it happy, caught mid-laugh. Pity strung at her heart, that feeling of loss was no stranger to her, either.

"Dad, he, god what an idiot, he asked some stranger at the park to take the photo. He had forced me to come along, promising to go out for lunch afterwards to 'reward me' for partaking in a family activity." She handed the photo to Maisie, knowing that, out of the two, she would feel a closer affection for it. "I- I really miss them."

"I do too, Winnie," Adrian said, "But, you did the best you could, you know that, right?"

Everfree jumped her brother, hugging him with the force of a bear, as she began crying into his top. "I could've done more..." she sobbed out.

"Shut up, Winry." Maisie interjected, putting her hand on her sister's back, "You were sixteen, you left school for us, you worked non-stop for two years, never stopping to care for yourself. You gave us everything."

The sobbing woman turned to her sister, her face puffy and snotty, and her eyes wide. She sniffled, grabbed a fistful of Maisie's shirt, and tugged her closer - a couple of fabrics snapped at the force.

Luna spoke up, wanting to aid the two younger siblings in their giving of comfort. "You did the same for my sister and I, you took Starswirl and us in, three ponies you didn't know, and didn't owe anything towards. Found us food, protected us, and built a castle together with us. Everything we have we can say is thanks to you."

She too was dragged into the hug pile.

The Everfrees, missing a handful, were quietly comforting its head, which shook and rattled as she gripped anything and everything around her, wanting to make sure the three were by her side.

Time ticked ever forward, and soon it was a little over mid-day. Luna had presented the food that she had forgotten to do earlier, at the request of Adrian's growling stomach. The three sat quietly, munching away at the salads they were gifted, as Luna took a look around the grove. She had spotted Everfree's desk and mirror when she entered but was able to get a chance to spy on it now that the others were preoccupied.

Trotting over, she looked upon all the various drawings on the frame and took a keen interest in the oldest one, the one she, her sister, and Starswirl had doodled on. The drawings were all childish and poor, even the adult pony's, but she felt a shot of pride in her heart knowing that her mother had kept it all these years.

"Why do you guys all feel the need to spy on my stuff?" Everfree asked, biting down on some chopped red bell peppers - which were, of course, her favourite vegetable. With a mouth full of food, she continued, "I'm really not that interesting."

"Winnie, you're older than most countries," replied her brother, "if you're not interesting, then that pony other there ain't got wings."

"Doesn't have" Everfree corrected.

"Shut up."

Trotting back over with a smile, Luna poked the headphones from earlier, she believed that she had seen some on a DJ with purple glasses at one point, but they weren't a common trinket. Chuckling at the sight of the Princess, who was acting like an inquisitive cat, Maisie picked the headphones up, and placed them atop Luna's head, trying to make them fit her proportions correctly. The two other Everfrees laughed at the sight, causing the pony to blush.

Finishing her salad, Everfree stood up, "Alright, who's ready for the hard part?"

"I'm sorry, that photograph wasn't the hard part?" Maisie asked, her mouth full.

"No, we need to recharge an electric phone with no charger, and no plug sockets. One that has been dead for almost two thousand years."

"Oh."

"Hasn't it rotted or rusted, or whatever happens to old stuff?" Adrian asked.

Everfree glanced over to the pile of folded clothes beside the chest, her wallet, and the headphones currently still on Luna's head, who was playing with the cable. They were all pristine like no time had passed. "Uhh, I don't know whether it's because my box acted like a time capsule or some weird magic, but no... this stuff is all fine. Mai, you feel anything from this?"

The woman in question walked over, still holding her lunch, and put a hand out, her brow furrowing as she felt something. Closing a fist around it, she pulled back and groaned with exertion as an almost blinding glowing white thread appeared for a second, before snapping back into place when she ran out of strength. "Yeah, definitely some magic, feels old. Like you."

"Any idea where it's from?"

"Uhh," she ran a hand across the opened chest, feeling the now invisible tendril, "it's pony magic, a type of spell," she probed a bit further, "it's younger than the chest by a couple of days."

Everfree smiled, letting out a small laugh, "Starswirl." Luna looked over quizzically, while the two others raised their eyebrows. "He was with us when I was caring for the girls. We never got along too well, but... He had his moments. He must've seen me putting this stuff in here when I moved in and cast a protection spell."

"Sounds like he cared for you. I'm sensing there's more to it." Adrian asked, looking at his older sister with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. She blushed and looked away, suddenly interested in a very uninteresting tree as she twirled some of her hair with a finger.

"No... Winnie, seriously?" Maisie asked, bewildered.

"Mother, you jest!" Luna cried out, feeling like her childhood shattered.

"Look, I was nearly three hundred, and he was a stubborn ass, but like I said, he had his moments," Everfree admitted, avoiding eye contact, but feeling the two piercing stares into her side, as the other clapped.

"B-but, a pony?" Maisie begged.

"Hey!" Luna said, spinning around to glare at the accuser.

"Well, Winnie can become one, and after three hundred years, girl must have been real lonely," Adrian explained, seeing his sister's disgusted face become one of consideration, and then acceptance. "Hell, it's been twenty and I've definitely considered some of the village griffins."

Everfree let out a bellowing laugh, and Maisie turned away in disgust. "You guys are gross."

Letting the moment pass, and avoiding Luna's staring eyes, Everfree picked up her phone, flipping it to run her hand down the back. Scratched and worn down metal, but still all in one piece. She gave the volume and power buttons some experimental pushes, making sure hadn't been frozen in place via the passage of time. The screen, somehow, hadn't cracked. She took good care of it as a teen, it being one of the last gifts she received from her parents when they were still alive to give her one.

She held down the power button, knowing what the result would be, and nodded when nothing happened. "Alright, here's the plan, Mai, get over your xenophobia for a minute and listen."

"My what?"

"Your racism, you uneducated brat. This thing needs power, so my idea is this, Adri, you channel forth some lightning from your fingers, Luna keeps you powered up, while Mai limits the amount being entered, when this thing vibrates, we know we hit the right current. Sound good?" Everfree asked, flipping the phone around so the charging hole was pointed towards the three.

"And what do you do?" Maisie asked, standing beside her brother.

"I get to be moral support."

"So you get to sit on your ass and do nothing?"

"I'll be standing unless one of you wants to grab that chair for me?" Luna was about to move to grab it but was stopped by the piercing glares from the two humans beside her.

"Alright, let's do this this."

It had taken an hour to get the phone half charged, but the group decided that was good enough for the moment. Unlike what she had said, Everfree grew a small tree to hold onto her phone, so that she wouldn't be shaking it all over the place when her arms began to cramp. Instead, she fetched some water from the nearby pond in her grove and began feeding it to her family as sweat rolled down their brows.

She gave small massages to any limbs or backs which were complained about, and at the end of it, Everfree was the most tired out of the group, merely sticking a thumb up when they all stopped. She panted, "Good work team, same time tomorrow?"

Being the closest to the device, Maisie picked it up, seeing that the phone's background was of her and Adrian as children. Luna peered at the device, looking it all over.

"What is this?" she asked, having to stand on her hind legs and lean against the woman next to her to see the screen.

"It's a phone, it's uhh..." Maisie blanked. "I never learnt what a phone was." Adrian shrugged, making a 'I don't know' sound.

"Lulu, I'll give you a tech lesson once we figure out the phone's significance, just let..." Everfree yawned, "Let me rest my eyes for a second..." She was asleep the second she closed them.

"All she did was some running around," Maisie said, looking at her brother and niece.

"She did also teach us to fly, and also cried like seven different times." Adrian retorted.

"I concur, let her get some much-deserved rest," Luna said, dropping back down to four hooves as her support moved to sit down on the foot of the bed. The pony and the man sat on either side of her.

Maisie swiped up on the phone screen and gave an evil smirk as she realised something very important.

"She didn't give it a password."

Seeing no details jumping out, or anything that seemed like it would lead to saving the world, Maisie began swiping through the phone's pages, feeling like she was a kid again trying to find her favourite game. She spotted it, one where you would swipe your finger through fruit and avoid bombs. She fought herself to open it, but not wanting to waste battery, she continued her spying.

"I must admit, I am incredibly perplexed," Luna said, her eyes feeling lost at all the squares on the screen. Adrian made a noise of agreement beside her, he was too young to ever comprehend what half this stuff was.

"Well, most of this stuff is games, like uhh, you have games in Equestria?" Maisie asked to the side, her eyes not leaving the screen as she looked through the various apps.

Luna nodded, "Board games are most common, but I believe there was the invention of an 'Arc Cade' during my banishment."

"'Arcade', Princess. But yes, similar to those, this phone has them, higher-tech, I'm sure Sleeping Beauty can explain it far better than us. But, anyway, when me and Adri would fight over the TV, she would give one of us her phone, and let us play games on it, either to keep us both happy or keep it quiet."

"TeeVee?"

"Seriously? I know you have movie projectors, Adri told me about one in the griffin town. Imagine that, but on this," Maisie shook the phone, "plays movies and stuff. Speaking of..."

Adri leaned closer, knowing what his sister was looking for, and Luna, wanted to know as much as possible as she jotted down everything in our notebook, did the same.

"So, there's no internet here, of course, so - No, I don't know what that is either - so, I'm hoping Winnie had some downloaded." Opening an app with a big N as its logo, Maisie searched for the 'Downloads' tab and squealed when saw some.

More than some, there wore loads. "D-did Winnie buy more phone storage so she could keep stuff like this? To keep us happy when we were busy?" Maisie asked out loud, not expecting either of them to know the answer. Wanting to show off her homeworld, the girl tapped on a movie, one she couldn't remember ever watching.

Luna's eyes grew to the sizes of dinner plates as the phone began showing off moving footage of a different planet, seeing the words 'UNIVERSAL' appear beside it. She heard chatter come from the little phone's speakers, something about a birthday, and another called 'Gordy'.

The three watched in fascination, hearing a loud balloon pop, and what sounded like meat being pounded. Appearing on the screen was the text;

I WILL CAST ABOMINABLE FILTH AT YOU,
MAKE YOU VILE,
AND MAKE YOU A SPECTACLE.
- NAHUM 3:6

Maisie paused it, "I don't think that movie was for us."

Adrian nodded, "She would always be the one to pick the movie when we asked, probably had a couple of her own she didn't want us accidentally finding."

"This is a quote, yes? I do not understand it." Luna said, desperately wanting the movie to keep playing.

"Look, I may have started praying, but I don't have a bible, this is another question for Winnie. Sorry, Luna, we aren't much help here." Maisie replied, ruffling the pony's mane.

Maisie backed out, quickly scanning over the other films, the majority were all animated, with a couple of live-action movies here and there. She looked back to the one she had clicked previously seeing its title. "Nope, yeah, nope to that."

Doing a quick check on the battery, Maisie smiled as she saw it hadn't moved at all. She went to the front page, making a half-second-long decision, before diving into her sister's photo album. Luna gasped at her side, seeing the various images appearing. Most were of scenic photos Everfree had taken in her youth, some were of her and her teenage friends, and others were of her family.

One stuck out in particular, and she asked the woman holding the phone to make it bigger, who did so. Opened to its full size, Luna gazed at an image someone had taken of her mother from the side, concentration on her face as she held a device to her face, looking into it. Her hair was being blown by the wind, as the sky was a beautiful orange, and behind the woman was the open ocean.

"That's a camera, or, a more advanced one, from Earth. Winnie picked up lots of creative little pastimes, she wasn't able to keep up with them much once mum and dad were out of the picture, but she still dabbled," explained Maisie, to both the pony and her little brother, who hadn't seen his big sister use the device as much. "She drew too, I wonder if she ever took photos."

Scrolling upwards, passing hundreds of different images which all called out to Luna, Maisie found a pencil drawing of a knight fighting a dragon. It was dramatic and dynamic, well-shaded fire blasting against the shield the armoured figure was holding up.

"Mother, she drew this?" Luna asked, gasping.

"Yup, quite the artist." the woman replied, feeling oddly proud in showing off her sister's work. "She was going to study at an art school before she dropped out."

"Well, she kept up her passion, if her tattoos were all done by her," Adrian pointed out, gesturing a thumb to some of the markings on the woman's legs.

Maisie hummed in agreement, and closed the photo album - she had wanted to see some scandalous evidence of her being drunk with a boy, but didn't find any. Her next idea, however...

She moved over to the Messages app. "So, this here Luna, is 'texting', basically, anyone else who has a device like this and a connection to the internet or a phone signal, can message each other, from across the entire world, almost instantly. A couple of seconds delay, at most."

"Like dragon-fire scrolls?" Luna replied.

"I don't know what that is."

"Allow me to demonstrate," the pony said, pulling forth a blank scroll from her saddle bags, and beginning to write out a message, "This will go to my sister, what shall I say?"

"Uhh, hi?" Adrian said, receiving a stare of 'Really?' from his sister.

"Say that we are good and that we are progressing as planned, I'm sure that's what Winnie would say, anyway."

Luna stuck out a tongue as she began to write with her quill, a fact that Adrian found positively adorable. She read out loud as she wrote.

"Dearest... Sister, All is well... I am demonstrating... how a dragon-fire scroll works... Today has been very... informative, and I shall... discuss it with you... this evening."

Finishing her note, she rolled it up and ignited it with green fire. Smirking as the man next to her looked at her like she was an idiot.

"Give it a moment, she likes to reply quick."

'Quick' was about three minutes. The three sat around, not wanting to go through the phone in case the reply came and cut off whatever they were doing. Luna felt a tug, and ignited her horn, as a scroll appeared in front of her in the same green fire from before. This one holding an official wax seal of the crown.

Luna cleared her throat, "Ahem, Dear Princess Luna, Thank you for the message. I am happy to see things are going well. As suspected day-court is abysmally droll, but I eagerly look forward to our meeting tonight. Give everyone my warmest regards, Princess Celestia."

Maisie laughed, "Well, I guess that was good, but this phone can do all that within about ten seconds, depending on how fast you can type."

"You jest."

"Nay, Princess. I can't really prove it to you, considering this phone isn't connected to anything, but trust me, this thing is fast." Finally done with waiting around, Maisie continued her mission into the depths of her sister's text history.

Her most recent messages were to a contact titled 'Mum'.

All three stared at it for a moment, and Maisie forgot her plan as she tapped on it. She scrolled up a bit, seeing a mass of blue text messages, being ones her sister had sent, and reaching the first grey one - one her mum had sent. It went as follows;

Hey honey, me and dad are coming home now, can you put the oven on?

K see you soon

Its getting late, where r u?

mum

mum please call me

please

the police called WHERE ARE YOU

i tried texting dad this isnt funny

please

the messages stop for a week,

why

why did you go

it isnt fair i cant look after Adrian and Maisie without you guys

please come back

A month,

How?

How could you do this? I need you. School wants me to pick a college. I cant do this without you

I cant go to school

I have to work, your will left us the house but you two were always bad with money

I couldnt afford to eat today, i gave all the food to Adri and Mai

youre their mum

not me

if you werent dead i would kill you

im sorry

i didnt mean that

im sorry

three months,

Hi mum, I passed my driving test today. I hope you and dad are proud. I really miss you

A week,

Hi Mum, today's my birthday. I'm seventeen. The kids are doing ok.

I'm not.

Mai and Adri expected a cake, and I had to buy one instead of getting myself a present.

None of the family sent anything.

Please come home.

For me?

For my birthday?

I know.

Im sorry.

I love you.

Say it back?

A year.

Hi Mum, it's me again, the kids didn't remember so I didn't have to celebrate it, but today is my birthday. I'm eighteen.

I know you're gone.

And that you aren't coming back.

But I want you to.

I keep paying for your phone bill. I know you'd hit me upside the head, but it's the only way I can talk to you.

I can't stand the graveyard.

I let Dad's go. I hope he understands.

I'm not letting go though.

I won't.

I can't.

Adri asked me about you guys the other day.

I cried when he wasn't looking.

You said to be strong.

I want to be.

I've got another job offer lined up next week.

I hope I can keep it.

love you.

I won't ask you to say it back this time.

A week.

mummy, daddy, help me
NOT DELIVERED

im lost in the woods i cant call the police i dont have any signal
NOT DELIVERED

mummy please im so scared
NOT DELIVERED

i cant find adrian or maisie i keep yelling for them
NOT DELIVERED

help me get home
NOT DELIVERED

send me a signal or a sign please
NOT DELIVERED

bring me home
NOT DELIVERED

Everfree awoke to the feeling of three warm bodies on top of her. She groggily opened her eyes, smiling at the sight. "What, you guys miss me that much?" she joked.

"I'm so sorry..." Maisie cried, tears splashing onto Everfree's shoulder as her sister hugged it tight.

"We didn't know." Adrian sobbed, clawing at his sister's skin as he tried to hug her tighter.

"We won't leave you again," Luna whispered, her muzzle against her mother's forehead.

Everfree, utterly confused, wrapped her arms as best she could around the trio, cooing to them, "Guys, it's ok, seriously. What happened?"

The three of them looked up at the woman from her chest, and for the briefest of moments, their crying faces looked just like how they did when they were all children. "We saw your texts, w-with... Mum," Maisie said, wiping the snot from her nose.

"Oh."

"We're sorry. About everything." Adrian whimpered, seeing how his eldest sister's face took on a blank expression. She said nothing for a moment and then scowled.

"W-well, serves you right! Those were private!" Everfree looked to the side, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "Bunch of spies."

Luna was the first to crack, giggling at the comment, joined by the bearded man, laughing at the pony's laugh, joined by Maisie, who cackled at the absurd flip in emotions. Everfree joined in, wanting the moment to wash away.

Finally, they all backed down from the bed as Everfree pushed herself up. The sun was in its late noon hours, still a couple hours of daylight left. "I seriously don't know where you guys got it from, I didn't teach you spying."

Maisie let out a dry cackle, "Yes you did! We saw how you snooped through Mum and Dad's draws and cabinets."

"And you would always try to hush me and Tia when we saw you spying on... Starswirl..." Luna said, weakly finishing as she realised the new connotations that held. Everfree blushed and rapidly looked away, trying to think about how wonderful her grove looked this time of year.

"Ugh, Luna..." Maisie moaned.

"Oh come off it, you live a couple of hundred years and see what sentient race you don't find attractive. A woman has needs!"

"Yeah, alright - ponykisser."

"Virgin!" Everfree exclaimed pointedly, feeling intense satisfaction as her sister went beet red and looked away. She heard Adrian begin to laugh, "Oh, like you've got any action." Again, beet-red and such sweet satisfaction. Luna began to slowly grow a deep crimson, not wanting to partake in this conversation. "No... Luna... you as well?"

Scrambling to explain herself, she cried out, "I-I'm royalty! I can not act like a scandalous harlot!"

"You calling your mother a prostitute?" Everfree replied, leaning forward as she tried to make herself look serious, but failing as her lips acted against her will, curving upwards.

"N-nay! You felt a connection to Starswirl! That was different!" Repulsed by her own words, Luna looked at the two beside her and saw a dark expression in the middle sister's eyes.

"Winnie... who else?" she asked, not looking her in the eyes.

"You jest, s-surely?" Luna asked, her voice shaking.

"Well there was this one Minotaur..."

"Nay!" Luna cried.

"And that griffin, too."

"Mother!"

"Oh, can't forget that dragon! And man, he was b-"

"PLEASE!"

Feeling like she gave the three a suitable punishment for their spying, Everfree was out of bed stretching, feeling satisfying pops and crackles in her back. They probably wouldn't look at her the same way for a while, a hint of fear from her sister, immense distraught in her daughter's eyes, and curiously, a healthy mixture of disgust and curiosity from her brother.

Clapping her hands, trying to break the three from their daze, she spoke, "Alright, phones working, you snooped, you learnt your lesson, did you find anything actually useful?"

Adrian was the first to recover, shaking his head, "Some games, downloaded movies, pictures and your texts with mum, that's it."

Everfree hummed, "That doesn't seem right, mum was pretty clear on checking it out."

Maisie shook her head, "Or, y'know, it was a fever dream?"

"No, it wasn't a dream," Everfree replied, standing firm, she walked over to where her phone was, and turned it on, seeing it open at the bottom of her text messages. Immediately losing track of what she was doing, she said, "I wonder if this still has my mus-"

An electric jolt shot up through her arm, causing her to recoil and drop the phone. "Ouch!" Reacting quickly, she managed to grab it before it made contact with the floor, breathing a sigh of relief, one that caught in her throat as she heard a noise she had never expected her phone to make again.

A text message notification.

All five of them looked down at the phone, the humans all bewildered and open-mouthed expressions, and the pony curiously trying to find out what it was.

"T-that isn't possible." Everfree whimpered, raising the phone to her chest. "Cellphone towers, they didn't make them while I was asleep, did they?"

"Nay."

"Well... This certainly doesn't feel ominous," said Adrian.

Turning on the phone, on the home screen was an alert, the phone number was unknown. The woman's breath shook as she tapped on it, and planted herself on the bed as she read the message.

Unknown Contact

This is the law of the jungle, as old and as true as the sky,
and the wolf that shall keep it may prosper,
but the wolf that shall break it must die.

As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk,
the law runneth forward and back,
for the strength of the pack is the wolf,
and the strength of the wolf is the pack.

"...What?" Maisie asked out loud.

"Big Jungle Book fan here, apparently," Everfree stated, staring at the message. She reread it several times, her fingers instinctively hovering by the reply button.

"That mean anything?" Adrian asked his big sister, scooting up closer to take a look.

"I think it means we gather the pack?"

Author's Note

Another long one, another all-nighter.

I actually teared up writing this as I am a big baby, so hopefully I got some of you guys too.

A lot of set-up in this chapter, and we are closing in ever so close to what will be my favourite part of the story, some meaningless slice-of-life filler!

Joking! Any slice-of-life dedicated chapters will be done after this arc has wrapped up, and the Everfrees aren't on a mission, though I'll still manage to fit some in here and there, like learning to fly or about Everfree's bizarre history in other creature's beds.

Side note, I transitioned from using a mixture of both Winry and Everfree to only Everfree for this chapter, I thought it could get confusing with the siblings being introduced in the last one, but I figured it worked out fine here.

Again, any editing or punctuation errors, inform me below!

Last of the Brave (Reworked)

Author's Note

This chapter's latter half got a very heavy remodelling, I will admit - I took far too much inspiration from a beloved franchise, and in my aim to pay ode to it, I ended up plagiarising a large sum - at a part very essential to the current plot. I wasn't too happy when I wrote it, But I want to thank ClosetBrony7 for making a stand, and giving me that extra push to do better!

This story will always be my way of having fun when I'm not dying from work or university stress, and while it may not be to everyone's liking, it has to be, at the very least, to mine. So again, a huge thank you - my current illness should not allow me to publish work that I do not fully love, or that I did not fully think through.

Relating to that though, yes, I'm still very much sick, so the 'editing' in this chapter (or the lack thereof) is probably truly bad, so I hope I can rely on people to comment down below for me to fix my various errors.

Also, I understand this chapter may be confusing to read, it was done intentionally so, but if anyone feels chapter breaks should be put in, tell me down below, I was fighting myself on whether to do it or not between the different sequences.

Also - if you want to see some fanart I made of my characters, check out my newest blog post - https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/1034588/the-everfrees-and-the-spirits-mask

Last of the Brave (Reworked)

"I think it means we gather the pack?" Everfree stated out loud, looking at her family beside her.

"What, like, us five, Celestia and Discord?" Adrian asked, counting on his fingers as he made note of everyone, "that seems easy enough."

"...yeah," The woman thought for a moment, before deciding to try something. She tapped at the bottom of the screen, and Luna's eyes widened as the alphabet was brought up, all out of order, and her mother tapped on them at a ludicrous speed. She typed out loud, "Who are the lords of the jungle?"

Hitting send, she waited with bated breath. Maisie raised an eyebrow, "What is that supposed to mean?" Her sister gave her a look, shaking her head as a small smile slipped onto her lips.

"The Law of the Jungle, it's from the Jungle Book, y'know, that old cartoon I would watch? Originally it was from a book from the 1800s, but I remember it most from the movie." Everfree explained, her eyes glossing over as she thought about an early Saturday morning, her siblings asleep as she threw a movie on.

"I'm sorry, you're almost two thousand years old, and you remember quotes from a movie?" Maisie asked, looking sceptical, "What else do you remember?"

"Well, I remember quite a bit from before my arrival, though, not much that didn't have to do with our family. I know I had friends, but their names are lost to me. I actually... don't remember my birthday." Everfree explained, her voice growing sheepish as she finished.

"October 30th," Adrian said, causing his siblings to stare at him, "You sent Mum the text on October 30th, about your eighteenth birthday."

"And your friends, you had a few but the ones that came to our house most often were Alex, Jenny, and Dee," Maisie nodded, thinking about the trio that would come over when Winry was stressed out or forgot to care for herself.

"Ock Tober?" Luna asked, "I have not heard of this."

"I'm not surprised, Princess, one of the first hurdles we had to get over was figuring out how months work here. You guys don't use whatever we did," Maisie replied, looking towards her sister to explain what she didn't know.

"Yes, we used the Gregorian calendar, twelve months in a year, all roughly around thirty days each. It's not too different to what is used here in Equus, October would be... the tenth moon cycle of the year." Everfree nodded her head as she spoke, recalling some of her old history lessons.

The phone buzzed in her hands, cutting off any further questions.

The tiger, the panther, and the bear.

Everfree smirked, quickly tapping out a reply.

Are we the lords of the jungle?

Her smirk faltered as she read the response that came through immediately.

That is yet to be seen.

"Alright, you're gonna need to explain a bit more here, Winnie," Adrian asked, scratching his beard, causing a couple of hairs to fall onto the bed below - much to his oldest sister's displeasure.

"So, in the story, there's this kid, right? Raised by wolves, and they have this law - the Law of the Jungle, which goes over their rules, like drinking, bathing, hunting, etcetera. You following?" Adrian slowly nodded, being just about able to absorb the information. "And in the story, there are three others, the panther, who kind of adopts the human, or is like some sort of protector, the bear, who shows the kid how to enjoy life, and then the tiger, who is basically the villain, I think?"

"So one of us is evil?" Maisie asked from the side, playing with her hair. Everfree didn't respond, just scowling as she thought about her words.

"I... don't know. I'd have to watch the movie again to remember why he was bad." Everfree said, chewing on the inside of her cheeks, not seeing the three others light up at her words.

"Do you have it on your phone?!" Maisie asked, letting her excitement seep into her words. Her older sibling turned to her with a smirk and faltered when she saw the two other sets of eyes sparkling at her. Everfree let out a small chuckle, before closing her texts to find her catalogue of downloaded movies. Her fingers smoothly scrolled through, before stopping on what she was looking for.

"Yep, I don't know how well it's aged but I've got it. Luna, how much time until you have to leave?"

"We have night-court scheduled shortly after sunset, but... It is rare for any of our ponies to come," Everfree nodded at her words, knowing that the pony would be upset about not being able to stay.

"Well, if you think it wouldn't cause any issues down the line, we should send word to your sister. Have an impromptu movie night. Adri, what about you, have anything that needs doing?"

"I can take a couple of days off, I doubt the butcher will miss me that much," Adrian replied. He didn't have a job, but he would help out his local griffin settlement, to either make himself some bits on the side or to raise his social standing. He half expected the pony by his side to recoil at his words, but realised that just because she was a herbivore, it didn't mean she scorned any carnivores - and she must've spotted the canines in the humans' mouths at some point. "I'll just make up for it whenever we're done doing whatever it is we're doing."

"Alright then," Everfree stood up, placing her hands on her hips as she turned to look at the trio, "Luna, send a scroll to your sister and invite her over. I have some friends in town that may be interested, and I may as well pick up Discord too, try to kill off a few tasks that need doing," She thought for a moment, "Let's say we start when the sunsets?" Everyone nodded.

"That town, it close?" Adrian asked.

"Mhm, not too far, in that direction," She pointed to the east absent-mindedly, not thinking about his question. "I'm going to go over there now, see if my friends are around."

"I'll come with," her brother replied, "Gotta have snacks for a movie, right?" Everfree looked at him with a blank expression which turned to unease.

"I-uhh," she managed out, "I've never been to town like this before," gesturing to her human body, "The ponies can be a little... hard on strangers." Adrian frowned at her words. Luna thought it best to interject.

"They can be troublesome, but I feel your fears are misplaced, mother. They've grown more accepting, you may have to put up with some stares and whispers but they will warm up to you, I am sure of it." Everfree looked to the treeline with a scowl. She let out a sigh, running a hand through her hair as she began to scratch the back of her head.

"Well... ugh," she grunted, "I've been putting it off for a couple hundred years, let's get it over with."

Everfree and Adrian had set off into the forest, leaving Luna and Maisie alone.

The Princess had written a scroll to her sister, and the reply was immediate, causing the two to laugh at her obvious excitement. Once the sun had been set, Celestia would arrive in Ponyville, speak to her student about various matters, and head to the forest.

"So, Princess, how well do you know Winry?" Maisie bit her tongue as soon as she asked, realising how stupid the question was, considering this pony had known her sister for longer than she ever did.

"I consider her my own Mother, it is safe to presume I know her quite well. Though, a lot has come to light these last few days." Luna replied, smirking at the human's expression.

"How so?"

Luna put a hoof to her chin, "Well, she never spoke about you or Adrian before, nor did she mention her own parent's death. My mother, she died during my birth, and my father died of natural causes. I am starting to imagine the reason she warmed up to me and my sister so, is due to our likeness to yourself." Maisie had a sad frown on her face and thought for a moment.

"She... Winnie had a lot on her plate, even back on Earth, she would always put others before herself, never let anyone in. I think she didn't want you girls to worry," Maisie explained, rubbing a cheek with her fingers. "I'm sorry about your parents. Mine were... I knew them better than Adri, but even then, it's difficult to remember them sometimes. Winnie was hit a lot harder by their loss. It was a car accident, they were driving home from a date, and the other car lost control on the wet roads."

Luna didn't know what a 'car' was and thought that right now wasn't a good moment to ask. Deciding to not probe further, she wrapped a wing around the woman sitting beside her, as they shared a comfortable silence in their solemn moment.

A few minutes later, Maisie smiled at the pony and ruffled her mane. "Thanks, Princess, for being there for her. She always needed something to focus on and never learnt how to relax for more than a few hours," Luna responded with a tender expression of warmth, and the woman beside her began to look into the forest. "Remember that stuff we pulled out of her when she was sick?" The Princess nodded, "This forest... it all feels the same, like, every tree, every leaf, every blade of grass, it's filled with the stuff."

"This forest has been cursed for over a millennia, are you saying that Mother has been absorbing it?" Maisie shrugged, walking closer to a tree which was particularly full of the chaotic energy. She ran a hand over the bark and winced as it felt like something had bitten her.

"Ow! You little sh-" She sucked on a finger, giving the tree the stink-eye. "Whatever this stuff is, it's not nice. It's been contained, and it's... angry about it, it wants to be free." She thought for a moment, "I think it's been seeping into Winnie, looking for a chance to get out."

"That is troubling. Can you feel it's source?" Luna asked, her horn igniting as she began to scan the tree.

"Sort of, it feels like it's growing stronger in that direction," she pointed to the north, "But, it's underground. Like a seed, or a tree's roots. It's strong though, we ought to wait until Winnie comes back before we do anything."

The Princess frowned, always being one to want to take action immediately, but saw sense in her Aunt's words. "Maybe this wolf pack the device speaks of, we need it to fight the source?" Maisie turned to look at her, nodding.

"Your guess is as good as mine, speaking of, where is the phone?" She looked around, lifting a pillow on the makeshift bed.

"I believe Mother took it with her, why do you ask?"

Maisie groaned, sitting herself next to the Princess, and crossed her arms. "I wanted to listen to some music."

Everfree was petrified, shaking like a leaf as she stood at the treeline of her forest. Her brother side-eyed her as he stood beside her.

"It's just a town, Winnie, you can do this," Adrian stated, putting a hand on his much taller sister's shoulder. He could feel her vibrating under his touch.

"I... I haven't introduced myself to ponies like this before," she stuttered out, her pupils the size of pinpricks as she looked towards the multicoloured houses ahead of her.

"Then just follow my lead, I can't be any scarier than introducing myself to a bunch of meat-eating bird lions." The man joked as he began to walk forward, and sensing his sister not budging, he stopped, turned back, and reached his hand out. Everfree stared at it for a moment, clamping her eyes shut as she swallowed a mouthful of air, and took it.

They slowly descended the hill, and Adrian could hear the woman's panicked breaths. Her grip on his hand tightened to the point of it hurting. Trudging through the pain, the two had officially entered the town and were met with a multitude of wide-eyed stares and whispers.

"Iwanttogohome,Iwanttogohome,Iwantto-" Everfree whispered through gritted teeth, her eyes still shut as she was being led along.

"C'mon girl, you'll be fine, I promise." A familiar voice told her, his large hands holding onto hers. Everfree cracked open an eyelid and saw she was being ushered by her father to a very vibrant building, which had a smiley face, and a rainbow atop its entrance.

"D-Daddy?" She asked, realising she was no taller than his knee. He turned to look at her, his blonde hair was pushed back, curling in an odd combination of sophisticated and wild. His beard was lacking and was instead just a long thick moustache, with stubble growing along his cheeks.

"Yes, honey?" he asked, getting down on one knee in front of the preschool as he laid a hand on his daughter's hair.

"W-why do I have to go? Can't I stay with you and mummy?" Winry asked, her voice verging on whining. Her father cooed at her face, pinching one of her cheeks.

"I'm sorry hun, but me and mummy have to work, and we can't keep you indoors all day alone, these nice people will take care of you, I promise."

"B-but-"

Her father shushed her with a finger on her lips, "No buts, missy. I know it sounds scary, but what do we Everfrees do when we're scared?"

"W-We do it anyway..." the toddler replied, tears streaming down her face as her father nodded and wrapped her in his arms. Isiah kissed his daughter on the forehead and continued walking to the entrance, a bell ringing as the door opened.

Winry was shaking, wanting to beg her father to take her home or to take her with him to work, anything but be left alone with these scary strangers. Isiah turned to talk to his daughter again, but she couldn't hear any of the words leaving his mouth.

The world became one single droning noise, which gradually grew louder and louder, causing the toddler to cup her hands on her ears as she began to wail. Her eyes jammed shut as she tried to make it stop, her head spinning as she lost herself to the barrage on her eardrums. Wanting to cry out for her daddy, she reached out for him, and when finding no one, she forced an eye open.

Staring back at her was a masked figure, coated in black goo, which dripped onto the floor of the now-empty nursery building. Their limbs had no clear distinction on where they ended, just becoming a wriggling, bubbling mass on the floor, like a tar pit. It leaned forward, its white spiralling eyes boring into the child. Its head tilted and it pushed a goopy finger against her own, which soon consumed the girl's vision, and began to drown her.

Derpy was walking home with Ditzy, having picked up some fruit from some of the stalls in Ponyville. Her daughter happily bounced along as the mare smiled at her. It was almost time for dinner, and the pegasus had decided she was craving some pasta - something quick, and afterwards, the two would try experimenting with muffins and the various fruits they had collected.

Ditzy, as excitable as ever, was ecstatic. Today had been great, the unicorn foals had been given a magic lesson after school, and she was finally able to levitate a feather! Thinking of all the plushies she could now make fly, she didn't see her mother stop dead in her tracks.

Down the road from the two of them, were two bipedal creatures. One was shaking the other, yelling something in a panicked shout at the ponies around him, who all weren't moving, instead adopting to stare at the scene in front of them.

The other biped was clutching their head, their long black hair violently whipping around in some invisible gust of wind, and was screaming like a banshee.

Derpy was galloping towards them before she knew what she was doing, and Ditzy was along for the ride, the back of her neck being gripped by her mother's teeth. Yelping at the sudden shock, the small unicorn soon saw what the commotion was as she was being rapidly brought closer.

"Everfree!" Ditzy screamed out, struggling free from her mother, and galloping alongside her. Derpy said nothing, her eyes squinting as she forced her legs to arrive at their destination as quickly as possible - she would have used her wings, but she never was a great flyer.

"Winnie, snap out of it! C'mon girl. Please! Can one of you please get a doctor?!" Adrian begged a nearby group of ponies, who all decided to take a step back in fear of the yelling creature in front of them. Screaming in frustration, he turned back to his wailing sister.

A grey pegasus and a small unicorn soon appeared by his side, both with eyes full of worry as they began calling out to his sister.

"Everfree! What happened?!

"Miss Everfree!"

Derpy turned to the man, reeling back at the look of desperation on his face, but steeling herself. "What happened?"

"I-she-" Adrian tried saying, suddenly losing his voice. He gave himself a punch to the chest, and his eyes hardened, "We were walking into town, and she stopped moving, I tried to knock her out of it, but she went cold as ice and then just started screaming!"

"Princess Twilight's castle. Pick her up, and I'll show you where to go," Derpy stated, her voice more commanding than Dinky had ever heard it. The bearded man nodded, apologising under his breath as he put one hand under Everfree's knees, and another over her arms, and hefted her to his shoulders, her yelling mouth now directly next to his ear. He winced, but gave the pony a pained nod, signalling her to move.

The four of them burst through the main entrance, two galloping, one sprinting, and another screaming bloody murder. Dinky and Derpy both yelled out. "Twilight!"

She appeared in a flash, her confused expression quickly becoming one of worry as she both saw and heard what was happening. "What's happening?!"

"She froze up and started screaming, we don't know!" Derpy yelled over the fanatic cries above her.

"Upstairs, my bedroom, quick!" They all ran to the room, and Adrian placed his sister on the bedsheets, suddenly aware of a black goop leaking from her ears.

"What the hell is this?!" he barked, causing the filly in the room to flatten her ears, suddenly scared of the man in front of her.

"I-I don't know!" Twilight panicked, her pupils shrinking as she witnessed some of the goo seep from the screaming woman's nostrils and bubble at the edge of her mouth. "P-Princess Celestia, she's meant to come here soon, I'll send a letter to her now!"

Adrian didn't look away from his sister, instead yelling to his side, "Do it!" He began to wipe away the thick substance, and looked into her mouth, making sure she wasn't currently drowning in whatever this stuff was. Derpy hugged her daughter tight, who dug her muzzle deep into her mother's chest, trying to block out the audio and visuals of the event occurring in front of her.

Twilight reappeared just as quickly as she had left, saying that a letter had been sent. She grimaced at the scene and closed her eyes to focus. Her horn lit up, and soon Everfree had stopped screaming and was silently spasming in a deep sleep. Adrian turned to look at her with fury, his teeth gritting, venom dripping from his tongue.

"What did you do?"

"It was a sleep spell! I promise!" Twilight backed away from the man in front of her, fear washing over all her features.

Adrian huffed, sounding like a pained gurgle as he heard her words, but looking into her frightful eyes, and the whimpering cries of the foal nearby, the strength was sapped from his body, and he fell to his knees.

"I... I can't lose her again." He whispered, tears streaming down his face as he sobbed over his sister's convulsing body.

There was a crash from downstairs, followed by the sound of two and a half sets of hooves galloping.

"Mother!" cried two voices.

"WINRY!" cried another.

Both Princesses slammed the bedroom door open, followed by a blonde woman who looked like a ferocious animal, her teeth bared as she panted. As soon as she saw the figure lying on the bed, she immediately ran to her side, rolling her sleeves up as her hands danced in the air above the body.

She found what she was looking for, and her face strained as she began pulling, hard.

"Adrian, what happened?" Celestia asked, her face the textbook definition of worry.

"Winry and I were walkin' into town, and she just stopped, went cold and then started screaming! W-we brought her here and she," he pointed to Twilight, "put her to sleep," He looked down at his hands, which were covered in a thin black mucus. "she's leaking this stuff... I don't know what's happening, Princess!" He cried out, slamming his coated fists into the mattress.

"Ugh- Jesus!" Maisie yelled, losing her grip and staggering backwards, falling to the floor with a crash. "Luna, get your ass here now and help me!" she roared, a fire blazing inside of her.

Twilight opened her mouth but was quickly shut down by the glare she received from the furious woman. Instead, she looked to the two other ponies in the room, the pegasus and her daughter, and ushered them out, leaving the Everfrees alone.

"What is the problem, Aunt?" Luna yelled, rushing to Maisie's side, and quickly firing up her horn.

"It's that stuff from last night, and from the forest, it's back, and it doesn't- Ugh!" She gave a strong heave again, with no result, "-want to let go!" Sweat trickled down her brow, combining with the tears lining her cheeks.

The dark Alicorn began pouring forth energy into the unconscious woman's chest, scanning for the invading force, and her eyes widened as she began to see that it was not localised to just one area, no, it was in her entire body. Looking at the pained expression on her mother's face, she began to bark out orders.

"Sister, summon Discord, we need his expertise in this matter. Adrian, soak some towels in hot water, and place them over Mother's forehead and joints, where she is sweating the most. Maisie, focus on pulling smaller threads instead of the entire canvas, and do it from her heart."

Celestia didn't need to be told twice and teleported to the draconequus' place of residence, the man scrambling out, yelling out for Twilight to aid him, and Maisie pinched her fingers together, delicately trying to pluck the air above the right side of her sister's chest. She turned her head to the side, looking into Luna's determined eyes. "And you? Helping me with this again?"

She shook her head, "Nay, she is sleeping, and I believe I will be able to see into her dreams. Allow me to find the answers we seek." The human beside her let out a solitary laugh, as she used one of her hands to wipe away the various liquid on her face.

"Whatever you say, Princess," her expression turned sour for a moment, and she nodded her head to Everfree's body, "Bring my sister back."

Winry was sitting on a porch, drinking some iced tea. Music was blasting from a speaker beside her, though she couldn't quite grasp what the words were. Playing in the garden in front of her were two children, her siblings, playing with some Lego bricks and figurines.

"Still at it, are they? What's the story now?" her mother asked, carrying a jug of the same beverage she was drinking, ice clinking against the glass.

"Adri's kingdom has tamed dinosaurs and wants to try and assault Mai's castle. She's currently building some defences to block them all out." Winry laughed, sticking her glass out, silently asking for a refill.

Sarah giggled, fulfilling the request, and sat herself down on a wooden chair beside her daughter. "I don't know where they get the stories from."

"Probably from Dad's movies. I don't even want to know how much of Jurassic Park these guys have been forced to watch." Winry ran a hand through her hair, thinking about the various times her younger siblings would cower in fear at a T-rex or Velociprator on the screen, or make audible cooing noises at a sick Triceratops.

"Well, uh... Life finds a way to make people watch the best movie ever made," Isiah called out from the kitchen behind the door behind the two, causing Sarah and Winry to groan out loud, which was riposted by a hard chuckle.

Adrian was playing with a dinosaur toy which was almost the size of his entire body, making it bite down on various tiny Lego people, much to Maisie's cries of protest. Winry raised an eyebrow, looking towards her mother, "When did we get that?"

"What do you mean, honey?" she replied, sipping from her own glass of iced tea, a lone mint leaf floating atop its surface.

"That toy, you... I never was able to afford it," the daughter managed out, her head suddenly feeling like it was locked in a vice.

"Yes, but wouldn't it have been nice if you were?" Sarah's eyes turned black, and liquid began seeping from her tear ducts, as dark as the night sky. Winry dropped her glass and cried out, but she heard no smash or splash.

Suddenly, she was holding a shopping trolley, all filled with the cheapest brands of food she could find, most being instant meals, mixed with some large uncut loaves of bread. Winry shook her head, trying to make sense of what was happening. In front of her, her five-year-old brother was pointing up at a large dinosaur toy, some new model which was priced exceptionally high.

He stomped a foot, crossing his arms as he looked at his older sister. She shook her head, frustrated. "No, Adri, I've told you before, we don't have the money for that right now, we're just here for food." He began to cry, further causing her headache to worsen. She tried to bargain, "Look, it's your birthday soon, maybe you'll get it then?"

Unhappy with the deal, her brother continued to scream, but Winry began pushing the cart forward, towards her younger sister inspecting a toy of a multicoloured horse. The teenager felt a strong familiarity with the object, but couldn't place it. When Maisie saw her sister approaching, she put the object back and began dragging her brother along.

"You weren't here for his birthday, Winnie," the young girl said, looking up at her frustrated older sister.

"W-what?" Winry asked, her breathing beginning to spiral out of control.

"You left us."

"N-no I didn't" She stated, "I was looking for you, I promise."

"Liar!" both siblings yelled out, and the world changed yet again.

Shorter now, Winry excitedly danced on the clean tiles of the hospital ward. Maisie, a small toddler, was holding her hand, utterly confused at the entire fiasco.

Isiah walked in, pushing his wife's wheelchair, who wore a tired smile on her face, looking down at a small baby she was cradling.

"Mum!" Winry called out, quickly rushing over, tugging her sister along.

"Hey honey, are you ok?" Sarah asked, looking up at her daughter's green eyes. Isiah leaned down to coo at the baby.

"I'm ok Mum, the nurses and sister gave us some food from the kitchen, they're really nice," Winry said, thinking back to when a chubby woman wearing a dark blue dress had given the two children a pot of jelly and custard, and asked them about school.

"I'm glad," Sarah said, yawning, "Do you want to meet your brother?" The young girl nodded, eyes sparkling as her mother leant down a bit, wincing in pain.

"This is Adrian, I'm afraid you might've missed his birthday by a couple of days, but I think he's really happy to see his big sisters." The small dark-skinned baby in her arms gurgled and looked towards Winry, his brown eyes sparkling with innocence.

Maisie made an excited noise, tugging at her older sister's trousers. The teenager picked up her sister, letting her get a look at her brother.

"Awian?" the toddler asked out, still not quite grasping how to say her D's.

"Adrian, honey," Sarah softly corrected, "He's named after the Adriatic Sea."

"What about me?" Maisie asked.

"Your's means pearl, honey," Isiah said, beginning to massage his wife's shoulders, which she happily leaned into.

"I didn't get him a birthday present," Winry suddenly said, a sad frown falling onto her lips.

"And you never did," Isiah said.

"D-daddy?" the teenager asked, feeling her head begin to pound. She looked up and saw that all of her family had disappeared, leaving a vacant postnatal ward, and a hauntingly empty wheelchair. Hyperventilating, Winry called out, but instead of hearing her panicked screams, she only heard her eardrums thumping within her skull.

Peeking out from behind a wall was a masked figure, covered in a dripping black liquid. It put a hand on the surface beside it and began leaning further out.

Winry screamed at the thing and fell to her knees as she scrambled backwards.

Sitting by a fire, the woman was hugging her knees as she cooked a rabbit. She was staring intently at a flower, which grew and twisted around in some invisible force.

She sighed to herself, pulling her coat off, and tugging her hoodie over her head. Embracing the warmth from the flames, she crept a bit closer, feeling the heat on her skin and her t-shirt. She stuck an open palm out, letting the light dance across her hand as she felt a small sensation of burning.

She mumbled to herself, reaching into a pocket in her jeans, and finding her phone within. She tapped its power button, and could only frown when it flashed an icon of a drained battery. Dead, of course.

"Ugh, please..." Winry knew the thing had died, she had screamed earlier that day when its screen cut to black in her hands as she held it in the air to find a signal.

She forcefully shoved it back into her trousers and began to tie her hair into a ponytail. Lifting her arms, she was able to catch a whiff of herself, causing her to gag. It had been two days since she had been dropped into the forest, and she had been constantly moving, running and screaming to try and find someone to aid her. No time to bathe.

Earlier that day, she had discovered that the grass had responded to her, moving with the sway of her hands, growing when willed to do so, or dying when commanded. She was able to catch a rabbit, ensnared by a trap of long grass wrapping around its body, suffocating it.

Winry had cried, of course. Weeping over a life taken, and her own stolen.

But now she was cooking it, impaled by a stick over a crackling fire she had managed to make. Thankful for her departed Dad's lessons in camping, she knew how to ignite a bundle of sticks and cook fresh meat. She wasn't excited about the gutting or skinning and had almost thrown up when she had picked up a sharp rock, but it was a job that had to be done.

'Everfrees do it anyway...' Winry had thought to herself, swallowing the bile in her mouth.

A branch cracked in the woods behind her, and she stood up, a mixture of excitement and fear at the noise. Another person saw the smoke from the fire, and was coming to save her!

'Or a wolf smelt the meat." a dark voice whispered in her head.

Startled by the thought, Winry grabbed a stick off the ground, one which had been darkened by its usage as a fire poker. She yelled out, "Who are you?!" She heard no response.

Instead, she saw it, the spiralling eyes of a masked figure, peering from behind a tree. It was huge, easily over six feet tall. The black ooze which covered it betrayed the creature, revealing itself to be a woman. It had dripped down its chest and revealed two mounds.

The creature appeared to be a naked woman made of black slime, its face a smooth surface, decorated by two horns sprouting from the top, zigging and zagging at different angles. Winry felt her excitement die and was replaced fully by fear.

"Who are you?" she parroted at the thing, stepping back as it had stepped forward.

It didn't respond, and its gaze peered into the young woman's eyes. Its spiralling marks were hypnotizing, spinning in an infinite rotation. Winry was stunned and dared to not move as it encroached ever closer.

It looked... melancholic. Its movement was slow, and the white glow of its 'eyes' dimmed. It had stopped a metre away from the girl, standing up straight. Winry was a tall girl, bullied about it in her youth. The word 'lanky' was thrown at her by a group of mean-spirited boys once in the playground.

But even then, this thing loomed over her. Winry's head barely reached the creature's chin. They didn't speak, and the young woman began to feel that same pounding inside of her skull. Seeing her discomfort, the creature oozed closer, reaching a goopy hand out.

Winry rejected it, instead dropping her stick, and clutching her ears. She screamed. And the thing in front of her did too, letting out a garbled, haunting noise, which sounded like something wailing underwater. The woman was whisked away yet again.

Winry was stabbing herself with a sharp bone, one that was tipped by some crushed berries and flower petals to form a dye. Her left arm was raw and ached with a burning sensation, a result of the woman's tattooing.

She had drawn an open clam, with a pearl sitting atop its tongue, and was currently working on a wave in front of a setting sun on her other arm.

Taking a moment to breathe through gritted teeth, she moaned out in pain. Clamped in her mouth was a piece of tree bark, which had been deeply scarred by teeth marks. She bit into it again as she continued her poking. Hearing the noise, a bearded grey stallion pushed open a large wooden door and slipped his way inside the woman's chambers.

"Everfree, are you simply a delusional fool, or is there a purpose to what you are doing?" he asked, removing his wizard's hat which jangled as he placed it atop a bedside table, its bells ringing out at the movement.

The woman ignored him, finishing her work. Starswirl peered at her with a pained expression, watching sweat drip off the human's forehead, and see the lining of tears under her eyes. He sighed and sat himself down on the bed, planting himself next to her.

Finishing her work, Winry pointed at a piece of fabric next to the stallion and opened and closed her hands repeatedly. Getting the message, Starswirl levitated it over to her grip and winced as the woman wiped away some blood on the forearm. She didn't smile as she looked at her handiwork, instead frowned and sighed.

"Why do you hurt yourself so?" Starswirl asked, bringing forth a bottle of something stronger than the usual jug of ale the two would share. Winry pulled it from the magical aura which surrounded it, scanned its label, poured some into the rag, and wiped at her arms again. She made a strangled cry as it made contact.

She spat the bark out of her mouth as she breathed in deep gulps of air. Catching her breath, she turned to her companion. "The girls are asleep?"

The pony nodded, and he ran a hoof through his long mane. "Indeed, they are currently resting from their day. Why, oh gods, are you not?"

"Because I needed to remember." She snapped back, suddenly taking a swig from the bottle in her hand. It warmed her throat as she swallowed, and she fought the urge to spit it out. She offered the stallion the bottle, which he carefully accepted.

"Everfree, do you take delight in your confusing words or are you just thick-skulled, as always?" Starswirl asked, swallowing a mouthful of the liquid. The woman had called it 'Vodka', using some potatoes and yeast to ferment it into a substance which felt borderline poisonous to consume.

"Just shut up, Swirl. Please."

Sensing it was one of these nights, the stallion sighed, and leaned back, looking out a window at the night sky. There were moments were the bizarre human would be silent, downright scary to be around. Usually after dark, when the foals were not around. He had never been able to extract any information from her on why she acted so, so he adopted to simply accept to be in her presence, offering the opportunity for some company.

Tonight, he would find out, was different. Her tongue loosened by the booze, a blush appeared on her scowling face as it began to infect her insides.

"It's been three hundred years. I think," She had said, looking at the bottle as she swirled it around, taking note of the floating specs of crushed potato which had managed to seep through filtration. Starswirl looked at her with a raised eyebrow, urging her to continue. "Three hundred years since I arrived here. In this forest."

"You're... Three hundred years of age?" Starswirl asked, bewilderment growing on his face. He didn't know how humans aged, but still, the woman in front of him looked young. Winry nodded, turning her reddened face towards the stallion, who was also beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol coursing through his veins.

"Three hundred and eighteen, I think. I lost count years ago. But something about this night... It feels like the anniversary." The stallion had been with the woman for close to five years now, and she had never once let it slip on how ancient she was. His brain swam with questions, but only one was deemed important enough to ask.

"How... How are you?" Winry let out a small breath she was holding in, not expecting that topic.

"I'm... I'm bad, Swirl," she revealed, turning her body to face the pony, she crossed her legs on the top of her bed, her hands fiddling with the Vodka in her grip. She took another swig.

"I am not surprised," Starswirl said, a sad smile on his face. Winry wasn't used to the expression on the stallion.

"I... I forgot the names of my siblings. I remember only their meanings," she pushed her arms outwards, showing off her two new tattoos, both still glowing red from the pain. "The sea, and a pearl."

Starswirl noticed how the woman's eyes were threatening to erupt with tears, and placed a hoof in one of the hands in front of him, and using his other to take the bottle and pour more of the burning liquid into his gullet. Winry smiled at the act and gripped the hoof with her fingers, her thumb absently stroking the fur.

"I was never meant to last this long," she let out a rattled breath, "I forget things, important things. I don't remember how it felt to hug my parents or to hold my brother in my arms, and I don't remember the colour of my sister's eyes. My brain is failing, and I'm trapped, in this body, growing older and older, while my skin stays the same." Her grip on the hoof tightened, and she looked directly into the pony's eyes. Scanning the golden irises, taking in as much information as she could. "What will happen when I forget you?"

Starswirl felt an emotion inside of his chest, one he never thought he would feel for the stubborn-headed creature sitting in front of him. He closed his eyes and focused on it, and when he opened them again, there was determination. "Everfree, I know not the horrors of eternal life, but the sisters, they are undoubtedly cursed with it also. As is the nature of an Alicorn. Consider this a small blessing, to stay by their sides, to guide them into their rule, when I am no longer able."

Winry's eyes unleashed her tears, and she let out a quiet sob, which was silenced by a hoof on her cheek.

"Allow me to continue. I am a master of all that is magic, allow me the time to create a spell which will protect the memories you hold dear, and the ones to come. Fear not the curse of a constant flow of new memories, I promise, with the nation of Equestria as my witness, that you will not succumb to the depths of this malediction." Starswirl stroked some of the woman's tears off her face and looked deeply into her glistening green eyes, which had lightened up as she followed along his words. She jumped onto him, hugging his neck as she cried into his chest.

"Thank you, Starswirl..." When she pulled herself back, she saw his muzzle glowing red, and she felt the warmth in her own cheeks as they lit up the same. Fighting a battle inside of her mind, she decided that if she was going to make memories she would cherish, this wouldn't be a bad one.

She slowly leaned down, trying to judge if the stallion felt the same way, and when she heard his breath hitch, she knew he did. She pursed her lips and made contact.

What she did not expect to feel was a thick sludge that tasted like dirt.

Reeling back, Winry saw she had just smooched a black horned mask, its spiralling eyes peering down at her. Gagging at the black slime in her mouth, she backpedalled, falling off the bed with a pained gasp. The taste wouldn't leave her tongue, it felt like it just grew and grew. All she could feel was the ooze seeping down her throat.

Once she began to choke, the masked figure stood up and began to 'walk' over to her, its legs lifting but never leaving the puddles it was leaving in its wake. Once close to the woman who was desperately fighting for air, it leaned down, and pushed her head back with one of its fingers,

Winry was standing in the castle's gardens, currently looking down at some blue and white flowers she had been caring for. She ran a hand through them, giggling as she felt the petal's feelings. Appreciation, dedication, and thirst.

She picked up the bucket beside her, and carefully trinkled some water over the dirt, cooing at the flowers. She heard a noise behind her, hooves making contact with the stone path, and a ruffling of feathers.

"Miss Everfree?" they called out, "I needeth to speaketh with thee," their voice was lined with desperation.

"Oh, Luna, what a pleasant surprise, do you wish to walk the gardens with me?" Winry replied, finding it difficult to not laugh at the current speech pattern the pony had adopted.

"Fie! Nay, mine own sister doest not seeth clearly. The ponies, they feareth my beautiful night, cower in fear at the shadows, and rejecteth mine own creation," the dark Alicorn cried out, her blue mane dishevelled as she began pacing. Winry raised an eyebrow, standing up straight to try and figure out what the pony was trying to say.

"Take a breath, girl. What is wrong?" Winry asked, and Luna let out a strangled cry in frustration.

"I has't just toldeth thee the problem! the ponies bray out during mine own sister's day but hideth during mine own night. Recoiling from the dark, not daring to behold up at the extravagant stars, decorated for them!" The pony began panting, stamping a hoof, cracking one of the stones beneath her. "Whatever I doth is simply not enow for those folk! Mine own blood, sweat and drops of sorrow and I am feared, scoffed at. Celestia doest not understand my quarrel and tells me to ignore their cullionly words."

"Luna, please, you're not around the bureaucrats, you can drop the archaic speech," Winry said, turning back around to water another batch of flowers.

Luna huffed and began to slouch as tears assaulted her eyes. She sniffed, causing the human to return her attention to the mare.

"I am sorry, Miss Everfree, the stress of the day is bearing down on me." She sat on her haunches and wiped an eye with a foreleg. "Celestia's ponies all adore her, admiring her beauty, and dance in the wake of her sun, but those same ponies hide from my beautiful night, and all dread my presence. Whatever I do is simply not enough for them."

Winry looked down at the Alicorn, and walked over to her, sitting at her side and leaning against her. Luna draped a wing around the human, bringing her closer.

"I think your nights are beautiful, Lulu. I stare up at them when I'm alone, counting the stars, and finding all the constellations you make," Winry spoke softly, feeling like the ground would cave in at any moment. She must've made a wrong step, as Luna retracted her wing, and scowled.

"You are not one of our ponies," Luna stated, her voice cold and sharp, "What you feel is not representative of those who I care for."

Winry reeled back at the comment, feeling like her heart had just been stabbed. When she looked at the mare's face, it appeared to look darker, with teeth looking eerily like sharp canines, and her eyes slit like a cat. It was only for a moment though, and all the features returned to the mare's usual appearance, followed by a gasp as the pony cried into a hoof. "I-Mother, I'm so-"

"I told you before, Luna," Winry cut her off, feeling herself grow frustrated and angry. Her voice was like ice as she stood up, crossing her arms. "I am not your mother, I am your teacher. Do not speak with me like that again."

Luna looked into Winry's eyes, her own filled with deep sorrow, and before she could see the regret form in the human's face, she had already taken flight, rushing to her quarters in tears.

Winry cried out, "Luna-, I-, Gods!" She kicked the ground beneath her, angry at herself for being riled up by a memory from lifetimes ago. A moment where her sister had called her brother a mama's boy when he had begun to clean his room at Winry's request.

She tried to follow but found the ground beneath her devouring her. Her legs sank into a pit of tar, menacingly bubbling as it continued to absorb the woman.

She cried out, but no words left her lips, and she was soon fully submerged.

Winry sat atop a rock in her grove, unmoving. The light in her eyes was gone, and the vegetation around her was all wilted and dead. Dry spiky thorns crept up her sides, stabbing her all over. She took no notice, allowing the pain as she stared off into nothing.

"Everfree! Miss Everfree are you here?" a voice called out from above. The woman did not move, instead choosing to clamp her eyes closed.

A gasp from the skies, followed by something landing beside her. The thorns in her arms were blown away by a gust of magic, leaving the woman feeling oddly alone.

"Miss Everfree, please, I need to speak with you." Celestia had cried, her voice betraying her usual royal nature. Winry craned her head slowly, and the pony saw the bloodshot eyes which had sank into the woman's face, big dark bags under the sockets.

"Princess." Winry coldly stated, lifting herself from her boulder. She brushed her arm absently mindedly, wiping away some blood which had leaked out due to her various stabbings from the branches, and walked closer to the pony. Celestia recoiled at the tone, never having heard it before.

In fact, she had never seen the human like this ever. She was always bubbly and jovial, but instead, in front of her was a different woman. Anger and sorrow seeped from her pores, infecting the grass and flowers around her. Her face like the very stone she sat upon.

"Everfree, please..." the pony begged, "Luna... she became something, I did what I must."

"What you must?" Winry parrotted, glaring daggers at the Alicorn. She had stopped her march a couple of metres from Celestia and crossed her arms. A face like thunder as she glared at her.

"I-I had no choice, the Elements, they banished her, I did not ask for such a thing!" Celestia cried, taking a step towards the woman, and sobbed when she saw the woman take a step back.

"Discord stands atop a throne of stone, for the rest of time, your sister, exiled to live a thousand years atop the moon's cold surface. Alone." Winry snapped, pointing a finger towards the mare, "You were taught redemption, not banishment."

Feeling anger grow inside of her chest, Celestia snapped back, "Discord threatened to curse Equestria, remake it in his own accursed image! Luna threatened to kill me! Curse the world to an eternal night, not daring to think about the consequences. Crops would wilt, the land would grow cold, and countless ponies would die!"

Winry growled, baring her teeth, grief clouding her vision. "Discord was like a son to me, and he's gone. Luna was a daughter, and now she's suffering, Alone!"

Celestia pushed forward, feeling herself grow tired of the woman's hypocritical words. "You never accepted us as daughters! Rejected, time and time again, but now you wish to finally accept the mantle?!"

The woman yelled out, "My words do not reflect what I feel!" she panted, "I have cared for you for five hundred years. Watched you grow, watched you mourn, watched you become the woman you are today. But I see I was blinded, you are no adult, you are a child, desperately trying to cling onto whatever control you have."

In truth, Winry had never accepted the position of mother, until she had heard Luna's final words to her that night in the garden. It had struck her deeper than any blade would ever be able to do so, and to hear that after all this time, she still considered her as her own mother, had killed her. Her mind whipped around furiously, not thinking of the words she spoke. She only had one goal, which was to let Celestia feel a modicum of the pain that she did.

Ignoring the pony's pained expression and sobs, the woman continued. "Starswirl and I, we taught you both the importance of a second chance, the idea of a better tomorrow, and yet the times you have been faced with an adversary, they are struck down, forced into a position where reconsideration isn't even an option to fathom!"

"Then you are a child!" Celestia cried out, stamping a hoof. "Life is not all sunshine and rainbows as you and Starswirl taught us. Redemption is only viable for those who want it, and neither Discord nor my sister wanted it, they both wanted me and my ponies dead!"

Winry felt something shatter inside of her, she knew she was acting stubborn, and was acting a fool, but this pain had felt so much better than the void that had been in her stomach, making her apathetic and cold. She turned to Celestia, staring into her magenta eyes, and decided to say her final words on the matter.

"You are no daughter of mine. Just a disappointment."

Before she could even see the look on the pony's face, Celestia was flying off, sobbing.

Feeling no more satisfied than before, Winry found herself clambering back onto her boulder. The vines began creeping back up her body, and the woman allowed the thorns to dig deeper, appreciating that stabbing sensation all the more.

Luna could not infiltrate her mother's dreams, it was as if hundreds all were happening at once, and whenever she tried entering one, she found herself being forced out. Crying out in frustration, she tried galloping towards one but stopped dead in her tracks as she saw a glimpse of it.

It was her mother talking to her in the old castle's gardens. That evening when the world had lost meaning to the Princess. Their last fight... Gasping, Luna tried to avoid staring into it, but what she saw next only further added to the torment. A fight between her sister and Everfree, in the human's grove. She heard the two of them yell harsh words at each other, laced with venom.

She clamped her eyes shut. 'Mother... She is tormenting herself,' Luna thought. Whipping her head around to view various 'windows' of the dreams, they all gave off the same sensation, loss, regret, and pain.

Hearing her mother's voice yell behind a large wooden door which had manifested nearby, Luna began lighting up her horn, preparing to enter by force. She was stopped as she crumpled to the ground, in a puddle of black ooze.

Looking up, Luna saw a shadow of her mother, as dark as the abyss, peering down at her. She wore that mask, the one she used to hide her face.

"M-Mother?" the Alicorn asked, trying to stand up in the tarpit she was slowly being absorbed into. The figure shook its head slowly, and its spiralling white eyes looked sad. Confused by the ordeal, Luna tried to scan the thing in front of her, and her eyes widened and her breathing stopped as she recognised it.

It felt like Nightmare Moon.

No, not that this creature was Nightmare Moon, but that whatever it was, shared the same origins, through grief and heartbreak. Luna growled, firing a beam into the thing's chest.

Nothing happened, and Luna cried as it reached out, and put a slimy hand atop her muzzle.

Awaking with a deep gasp, Luna began coughing as she felt hands hit her back, trying to force up whatever was inside. The Alicorn's eyes were flowing with tears as she managed to control her breathing, looking up at the figure beside her with gratitude.

Adrian's facial features were plastered with worry, and Luna saw that behind him, seven other figures were staring at her in the same way.

Adrian, Maisie, Celestia, Discord, Twilight, Derpy and Ditzy were all in the room, all caught in the middle of various tasks. The woman was ragged, her arms still hovering over her sister, shaking as they continued to pull what seemed like an endless amount of black strings from her. Adrian, before he rushed to comfort Luna, had been warming the air over Everfree, trying to force her to sweat out the infection.

Celestia and Twilight were channelling magic into the body on the bed, with Discord standing beside them, trying to decipher the origins of the curse.

The Hooves' family were bringing in a plate of food and drinks for the room, sad expressions on each of their faces.

"Luna, are you okay?!" Celestia strained, her sweat dripping off her muzzle.

The dark Alicorn coughed a final time, and stood up, "Nay, Sister, it is troubling news."

"Spit it out, Princess!" Maisie grunted.

"Mother, she is being haunted by memories, all seemingly occurring at the same time. She cannot escape them," Luna ignored the look on Twilight's face, and continued, "Worst of all, the origins are similar to that of Nightmare Moon."

Celestia closed her eyes as she began to scowl, and the others in the room looked at the dark Princess with a scared expression - even that of Discord, Maisie, and Adrian, all of whom had only heard tales of that event. Twilight broke the stunned silence.

"The Elements of Harmony, we use them on Everfree!"

Celestia frowned, remembering the last time her mother had been close to the things, and the argument that followed. With a mere moment of consideration, she bowed her head. "Yes, Twilight, gather the Elements and their users. Quickly."

"Woah, Princess, I don't know much about those things, but didn't they turn this guy," Maisie looked towards Discord, "to stone, and banish Luna to the moon? We're just gonna fire them at my sister?"

"Yes, but they also returned me to my form before the dreaded mare took me over, without banishment," Luna replied, "Unless your powers are capable of removing any trace of the magic in Mother, then the Elements are our only hope."

Maisie growled in response, she had made no dent in the reservoir inside of her sister and threw her arms up in frustration. Adrian scowled beside her, but had nothing to say, instead choosing to hold the hand of his unconscious older sister.

Everfree was looking at herself, which felt absurdly odd.

Sitting atop a throne of stone, and surrounded by stabbing thorns, was her, a hundred years after she and Celestia had fought. She remembered the time when everything had felt hopeless and lost. Only moving to drink some water, or eat something, which only occurred when the hunger or thirst began to physically hurt.

She had lost track of days, as they turned into weeks, and then months, and then years. All spent staring into nothing, feeling sorry for herself, her daughter who was atop the moon, and her son trapped in stone.

She did not act on such worries, though. As stubborn-headed as always, instead of healing, Winry chose self-destruction, hoping to learn what it's like to have wounds again. And she would learn again, and again, and again.

Everfree stared at Winry. Feeling like an out-of-body experience, she looked down at her arms, and saw them coated in a black sludge, dripping onto the ground below. Her entire body was coated in the stuff, and she couldn't tell where her skin ended and the ooze began.

Her head pounded, that same ever-so-persistent migraine forcing itself into her skull like a battering ram.

The older woman tried to moan but only heard a gargling noise escape her lips, muffled by the mask she wasn't aware she had even been wearing. Panic began to overtake her feeling of confusion, clawing at her face to remove the object, but finding it immovable.

Winry, her younger counterpart, remained motionless. Her cold gaze bored into a nearby tree, not thinking about anything. Her mind was simply blank.

Everfree tried to call out, tried to beg for herself to help her, but the younger woman either didn't notice or didn't care. It was torture.

"You have been using this moment to torment yourself for centuries. This, and many others." A voice called out from beside the panicked woman. Snapping her head in the direction, Everfree saw a glowing spectral deer trot towards her.

"W-who are you?" She asked, her voice still being muffled by the liquid seemingly filling her mouth and the mask which was glued to her face.

"I am one, and I am all, I've been watching you for some time, Winry Winters Everfree," The deer didn't exactly speak, but it wasn't being transmitted into her head like other methods of telepathy. Their voice soothed the woman, and she felt her worries wash away.

"I-Why- Who are you?" Everfree parrotted. The deer shook its head in amusement.

"You use my form and my powers, and yet what I am evades you?" The spirit laughed, "So old, and still so much to learn." They trotted over to the woman and began nuzzling her arm, and the black ooze seeped away, revealing her light-brown skin underneath.

"Are you... Mother Nature?" Everfree asked, looking down at her hand in amazement. The rest of the gunk covering her began to melt, bringing her out of her encased form.

"In a way, I suppose. Nature, the Elements of Harmony, ponies, and all the races that you did not play a hand in making, I wouldn't say it would be outlandish to deem me their mother." Their tone was jovial as if said with a smile on their face. Everfree couldn't help but grin as well, looking back towards her younger self, so determined in her self-destruction. "Do you remember this moment?"

The woman shook her head, scanning the scene in front of her for any clues.

"For years, you punished yourself for the way you spoke to your daughters, thinking that you are hopeless, selfish, and cruel. You always viewed yourself as a blemish in an otherwise beautiful world. A tumour, threatening to spread." Everfree found herself crying at the deer's words.

"These feelings, your own thoughts, acted upon the world around you - and without your intention, you did something to this forest. It had always been a place that flourished in a chaotic space, but you acted as a conduit, and you released your energy twofold." The deer moved over to a nearby tree, darkened and rotted, and sighed, "The forest became more corrupted than ever before, and even though you did not know of your role to play, you tried to fix it anyway."

Everfree shook her head, not bothering to wipe the tears away. "No- I just sat here, wasting time, not bothering to do anything."

The deer looked at the woman carefully, and its head moved from side to side. "No, my sweet girl, you do not remember."

Calling out from within the forest, a filly cried out. Winry, who hadn't moved, suddenly emerged to life. Looking in the direction of the call, and taking flight - leaving the grove alone, except for the two spectators.

"Don't you see? You lost your direction, but when you found even a semblance of it, you gripped it - with all the might you had." Everfree was sobbing now, crying into her hands. "A push, from a lost foal, and you were back to doing what you have been doing your entire life. Protecting those who cannot protect themselves."

"She was a child, lost in the woods I had cursed! It's my fault she was in danger!"

"You do not hear the words I speak. This forest has always had an affinity for the wicked, and while it played on the darkest parts of your mind, it is still just a forest. A peaceful forest is as threatening to a lost child as one that is knowingly cursed. Being lost within is all the same to the mind of a foal," The deer nuzzled her side, trying to bring her some comfort. "While what has been written cannot be unwritten, a new page can always be turned."

"I-I don't understand."

"Then allow me to show you."

The two were in the Dragon Lands, standing on a hill overlooking a familiar clan.

"This was ten years after the last scene, still having not forgiven yourself for conversations with the Princesses, you went on, to visit your creations. Amazing them with fantasies from your home, filling their heads with stories they would never have dreamed of," The deer said, nodding its head towards a roaring fire, surrounded by dragons, and a solitary woman, currently waving her arms around as she spoke, a large smile on her face. "You brought joy to others when you couldn't give it yourself."

"Because I- I... I didn't want to feel alone anymore." Everfree whispered.

"You lie to yourself. You did it because you enjoyed it. You rescued lost foals because you loved the way they reunited with their parents," the deer emphasized her words by giving the human light jabs with a ghostly hoof. "You never gave yourself a moment to yourself, even before your time on Equus. Playing cartoons in the mornings while your siblings slept, just in case they came to join you."

"How do you know about that?" Everfree questioned, lightly rubbing where she had been poked.

"I know lots about you. You dream of your past a lot," the deer replied, as it began to lie down on the rocky hill. The woman joined her, sitting cross-legged beside the spirit.

"I still don't understand."

"You're entire life, you've lived for someone else. Caring for your siblings while your parents worked, dropping everything when they had passed on, to fully take care of them. Creating new life when you had no one to dedicate your time towards, and adopting two small fillies and a grumpy stallion. You abandoned your own hopes and dreams and aimed to help fulfil theirs. You slipped up, as we all do, and you never let go of that fact." The deer replied, its voice sounding like it could cry - but the spectral face portrayed no emotion.

"Such as when you willed your emotions into the forest, you had unfortunately done so again. You thought you deserved damnation, and you unconsciously made it so. A living nightmare, much like your daughter's, has corrupted you, it drains you of your connection to me." A pause, to let the fact sink in, "Due to your stubborn nature, it was never able to take control, but when your sister removed a part of it, it struck back, twice as hard as before, with years of self-loathing as its ammunition. A dark force controlling you, my dear, would be the end of the world."

"Your daughters would lay down their hooves for you, show their necks at your will, your siblings would rather turn their backs on the world than turn against you, and your son would so easily fall back into old habits. It cannot come to pass, so I intervened."

"You sent the messages?" Everfree asked, raising an eyebrow at the spirit.

"I did. For years I have been trying to find ways to talk with you, to alleviate your pain, all blocked by that accursed Nightmare. Sensing your sorrow, I replicated an old mistake I had made, and pulled your siblings into this world, trying to reveal to you that you are more than what you see yourself as." The woman chewed on the deer's words, her eyes growing large as she connected the dots.

"You brought me here?" She asked.

"I did, I made a mistake like we all do, one I've been trying to correct for several millennia," the spirit said, sorrow seeping from their very fibre. "I had sensed a creature in deep anguish, one that was so strong it broke the borders between worlds, and in my goal to help, I had dragged her here. By the time I noticed where you had landed, it was already too late."

"...But... my brother, and my sister, why bring them here too? They could've lived normal lives on Earth." Everfree found herself growing frustrated.

"They were orphans, my sweet girl, the world was not kind to them, I saw that, so I picked them up from when you had disappeared, so that they would never face the world without you. They were safe, I aided them in their journeys. Planting food, and showing them safe spaces to settle. They never saw me, no, always chalking it up to good luck," Everfree grew calm as the spirit continued, "They grew up strong-willed, like their big sister, and used the powers I gifted them for good. Never once directing it in another creature's way with malicious intent."

"You can't say the same about me," Everfree whispered, looking down at her hands.

"But I can. Your first years on this planet were the hardest, and you had to kill to survive, hunting meat before you knew how to synthesise it. You did not kill out of fun, you killed out of necessity, and you cried over all of them, I believe a couple of the markings on your skin are to respect those that you had used to continue surviving." The deer comforted the crying woman, laying a foreleg onto her arm. "That is the law of the jungle, you hunt, you eat, and then you die, returning to the earth to grow as plants, to be feasted upon by the same creatures you had eaten."

Everfree let out a dry laugh, "I think you're mixing up the movie's law with 'One is all, and All is one', and even then... I never returned to the ground."

The deer shook its head, mirth in its tone as it replied, "A creative liberty, my sweet girl. And yes, you never were able to replenish the soil with your body's nutrients, you sowed life with your powers, bringing plants to places that they would have never grown into otherwise."

The two shared a moment in silence, watching the nearby dragons cheer and roar at a story being told by the younger Winry, and the flames dance into the sky. The sun had set, turning dusk to night, which was painfully dull compared to its form from earlier centuries.

The deer turned to look into Everfree's eyes, and with deep sorrow, it said, "Our time is coming to an end, Winry Everfree."

"Why?"

"The Elements of Harmony, they're going to be used to purge you of your curse, but it's so entwined with who you are, that the effects of it won't be as they hope." Everfree gave a sad smile,

"Am I going to die?" The deer laughed, its eyes closing for a moment as its body shook.

"No, my sweet girl, but you will be split into two. Who are you now, will become a spirit, trapped in the forest, and your other half, will be like you when you first arrived in Equus, young, and innocent. You will be lost, but surrounded by family. All is not lost, if they can find the root of the curse, they will be able to cure you, return you to who you are now, if you are willing." The deer replied, standing itself up.

"So I need to trust my family to do the work for me?" Everfree stated, laughing as she stretched her body, feeling her back crack.

"I'm afraid so, it may be difficult, bu-" the woman cut the deer off.

"No, it will be the easiest thing I'll do."

The two stared at each other and embraced, the deer was warm, oddly enough, betraying their ghostly appearance. They kept their embrace even as the world crumbled itself to pieces around them.

The Elements of Harmony hit the unconscious woman, and as quickly as it had started, it had ended. Rushing over to the bed, Adrian and Maisie gasped as the woman had been turned back into her eighteen-year-old self, lacking the majority of her tattoos, and being noticeably shorter. The white streaks in her hair had been washed away too.

This woman, their sister, looked so innocent. Snoring slightly as she hugged a pillow beside her. Luna and Celestia rushed over, they were both as shocked to see the state she was currently in.

"What happened?" Adrian asked, "Why is she so young?"

"I... don't know," the white Alicorn replied, looking over her mother. She tried scanning her body for any remnants of the dark energy and found none. "She's been cured, but it caused her to revert in age."

"If this is like myself and Nightmare Moon, she has been reverted to before the beast had taken control. It appears she had it inside of her for far longer than any of else knew," Luna stated rubbing a hoof over the woman's face, causing her to try and swat the poking appendage.

"Lemme sleep..." she groggily moaned out, her voice noticeably lacking a certain aged tone that Everfree used.

"I agree with Everfree, allow her to sleep, we do not know the depths of this effect, and it may be wise to soothe her into it," Celestia said, gesturing towards the bedroom door. The Hooves family, and the Elements of Harmony all followed her direction, departing the cramped room. Discord stayed for a moment, hovering over the group with a complicated expression on his face.

He soon departed with everyone else, leaving Maisie and Adrian alone with their sister. They squeezed one of her hands, and sat in a pair of chairs in the corner of the room, one at a desk, and the other just being there.

They began drifting off to sleep before they had even realised how tired they were.

Outside, in Twilight's castle foyer, once the Princesses had returned from their duty of raising and lowering their celestial bodies, there were questions.

"You called Everfree 'Mother'?" Twilight asked, peering at the two, who rubbed their faces sheepishly.

"Ah, yes, well..." Luna said, her sentences dying as they began.

"We have not been completely truthful with you, my little pony. Everfree helped raise us as foals, you see, with the help of Starswir-"

"Starswirl the Bearded?!" Twilight exclaimed, ignoring the facehoof Luna committed as she silently groaned. "Everfree knew Starswirl?"

"She did more than know of him..." Luna whispered into her hoof, causing Celestia to slowly crane her neck to look back at her sister, a look of horror on her face.

The white Alicorn collected herself, coughing slightly to try and forget what had just been implied, "Yes, she raised us, taught us a grand multitude of things, she is very much like a mother to us."

Twilight had more questions, but was interrupted by Rainbow Dash.

"Who are the other two guys? They were acting real weird."

"Those are Adrian and Maisie, Everfree's siblings," Luna replied from her sister's side.

"So, what, this a family reunion or something?" Rainbow said, receiving a hard nudge to her side by Applejack, "Hey!"

"Allow me to fill you in." Luna continued, sitting everyone down as she began to tell the tale of the last few days, missing out on any information she deemed too embarrassing to utter (particularly about her mother's relationship history).

"So, you're telling me, them three all got magical powers, and have been thinking the other's been dead?" Applejack asked, rubbing her head with a hoof.

"Yes," Celestia answered, "it was as confusing to us as it is confusing to you all."

"And why is Discord here?" Rarity asked.

"Because my expertise was needed, and I am good friends with Lady Everfree," he replied from above, peering down at the collection of ponies.

"Lady Everfree?" Rainbow asked out loud, guffawing at the title.

"Y-yeah, why did you call her Lady, Discord? I-if you don't mind me asking..." Fluttershy tapered off.

Bringing forth a whiteboard and an excruciatingly annoying squeaky pen, Discord began to draw on its surface, drawing himself, and a a human beside him, who was taller than the draconequus by a wide margin.

"When I was young, Lady Everfree adopted me into the castle, much to the Princesses' eternal joy," they both groaned, "taught me how to use specific magic, and accepted me when others did not."

"So, she's the reason you know all your crazy tricks? Blame her for why you went all crazy and-" Discord cut Rainbow Dash off with a cold stare.

"No. That was my fault, Lady Everfree played no part in that." He stated in a cold tone, and the ponies were taken aback by his serious manner.

Not sensing the shift in tone, Dinky asked, "Is Miss Everfree going to be alright?"

Looking down at the small unicorn, Celestia replied, "We believe so, my little pony, she has her siblings to look after her for the moment, and I assure you that nothing bad will happen."

Winry awoke with a start, clutching the bedsheets with a desperate grip. They were smooth, like silk. This wasn't her bed.

The room was dark, and she began to hyperventilate as she tried calling out, but the voice died in her throat, feeling worn and bruised as if she had been shouting non-stop.

Startled by the noise, Adrian woke up and quickly rushed to his sister's side. "Hey, it's okay, I'm here."

Deep in panic due to the stranger beside her, she found her voice. "Who are you?! Where am I?!" she yelled, tears beginning to appear in the corners of her eyes.

Maisie soon appeared next to her brother, trying to reach out and grab her sister's hand. "Winnie, it's us, c'mon girl, snap out of it!"

Winry cried out again, "ADRIAN! MAISIE! Where are you!?"

"Winry, please, calm down, we're here, you're ok!" Adrian begged, and found a fist planted right in his face,

the young woman scrambled out of the bed following decking the stranger beside her, and fell to the floor with an 'Oof!' Ignoring the pain, she continued to backpedal, and felt her back make contact with a wall. She began to weep uncontrollably.

Maisie rushed over, finding a lantern to ignite, illuminating the dark room with its flickering flame. "Winnie, look, it's me, Maisie, see?" She tried to smile but resulted in making a grimacing face where she bore her teeth, but the effect had been the same nonetheless.

Winry saw the signature gap tooth in the woman's mouth, the recognisable blonde braids, and those shining blue pearls for eyes. Slowing her breathing, she quietly called out, "M-Mai? What happened, why are you... old?"

Ignoring the pang of anger that flashed through her head at the insult, the blonde woman tried to soothe her sister, "It's ok Winnie, I promise, just get back into the bed and we'll tell you everything."

Deep in the Everfree Forest, a lone ghost haunted the trees, floating above the ground as she hummed a tune.

She was dressed in a long dress, that, much like her body, was transparent. The only thing tangible on her, was half of a wooden mask, dangling at her hips. A singular spiralling white eye illuminated the land around her as it glowed.

It stopped at the mouth of a deep ravine, and peered down into it, taking note of the strong energy emitting forth.

She tried using her magic to repair the broken land but let out a frustrated sigh which echoed off the trees as she found that she was currently powerless.

"They better hurry up." The ghost said to itself, beginning to venture back to a familiar grove.